Powers of Crests
by Debbie Dai-chan
Summary: The Digidestined are seeking the true meanings of their crests.
1. Passion of Fire

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. Toei does, so sue them for changing the series. :) Criticism will be greatly appreciated and flames will warm my ass as much as I want. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part One: Passion of Fire

By Debbie (Dai-chan)

Mimi rested her chin on her hands and watched Jyou with observant interest. The tall, lanky boy stood still, silent in the stream, his knowing, dusky-colored eyes that seemed to hold deep thoughts, inspecting the crystal water behind his clear eyeglasses. The eyeglasses were sliding off his nose, but he didn't move, like he was an unwounded robot. Mimi had a sudden urge to wade into the stream to Jyou and push up his glasses. She hid a shy smile behind her peach-colored gloves. Her hazel eyes turned to Taichi, who was also standing in the stream. He was wading around, his tan eyes impatiently flickering at the water, his face a frustrated visage.

Her Digimon friend, Palmon was also watching the boys by her usual side as Taichi's partner, Agumon rested on his yellow belly, a bored gaze in his dark green eyes. Jyou's companion, Gomamon was silently swimming, the water a second home to him.

"Here, here, fishy," Taichi was coaxing. "Here, here." He made silly fish sounds that made Mimi choke back a giggle.

Jyou gazed at him with his thoughtful eyes. "Come on, Tai. That's not how you catch fish."

Taichi straightened up with a grunt. "Oh? And what is the proper way to catch a fish, Joe?"

Mimi knew Jyou was vulnerable to sarcasm, but he seemed to ignore it. He posed for Taichi. "Well, all you have to do is stand still and wait until a fish comes to you. Be silent as the water. It's simple, really." His eyes caught a glimpse of a silver fin around his legs. His hands shot in the water, quicker than a flash. "Gotcha!" But the fish easily slid out of his reach, and he slipped on a smooth rock.

_Splash!_

Jyou shook his wet black-blue hair, shaking water from his hands. He sat in the stream, all soaking wet, as usual. Mimi and Palmon giggled behind their hands as Agumon and Gomamon laughed hysterically. Taichi stood by Jyou, smirking at him with amusement.

"Well, it does look simple, but I don't think I want to do it."

Jyou raised a hand up to him. "A little help?"

Always helpful, Taichi pulled Jyou to his feet.

All looked up at soft footsteps behind them. Kimika strolled up to them with her Digimon pal, Iyumon. Her gentle brown eyes gazed at the wet Jyou and asked, "What happened?"

Mimi grinned at the black-haired boy. "Joe fell in the water, as usual."

Kimika smiled. "Joe, I think you are becoming like Gomamon."

Jyou laughed weakly at that.

"Another Gomamon?" Iyumon said jokingly.

Palmon shook her head, pretending to shudder with horror. "I think one Gomamon is enough for us."

"More than enough," Jyou muttered.

Gomamon scoffed and swan past Jyou and Taichi. As he did so, he lifted a flipper and slapped it down to the surface, splashing water at them. Jyou and Taichi glared hotly at him, but no one made a move toward the seal-like Digimon. Gomamon may be slow on land, but he can swim so fast that it's nearly impossible to catch him.

Kimika again smiled at Gomamon's reaction. "Don't worry about fishes. We have plenty of fruits and nuts." She returned back in the jungle near the stream, Iyumon following behind.

Taichi groaned as he and Jyou stepped out the stream. "For once, I wish we would have juicy steaks."

"Or pizza," Jyou added.

"Oh, or maybe cheeseburgers."

"Stop it!" Taichi and Jyou turned to Mimi. "You both make me hungry again." Putting on her pink hat, she left in the jungle with Palmon.

Taichi and Jyou putted on their socks and shoes before entered the jungle. They walked through a manmade path to a sizable clearing. They saw their friends already sitting around a small fire, eating odd fruits and nuts on giant, wide leaves. Kimika was sitting by Yamato and his younger brother, Takeru. Iyumon, Gabumon, and Patamon were at their human partners' sides, always watchful as guardians. Mimi sat by Koushiro and Sora. Palmon, Tentomon, and tiny Yokomon, as always, stayed at their sides. Taichi and Jyou sat by their friends, chatting about their greatly missed home.

Taichi took his time gazing at each of his friends, remembering what had happened. He remembered that when he was gone in the real world, his friends spilt up in search for him. It was his responsibility and goal to bring them together, and he succeeded at that. He remembered when Sora avoided to be seen because of her Crest of Love, which she thought would never glow. But her crest did glow, and her Digimon, Birdramon digivolved into her ultimate form - Garudamon to battle an evil, vampire Digimon named Myotismon. 

It had been a day since that. They were on the move since, hoping that they would be ahead from Myotismon. Taichi's eyes unfocused as he pondered deeply. How could they defeat Myotismon? He was much powerful than Devimon, and Taichi often shivered at the sight of Myotismon in his mind, with his scheming smirk and fiendish eyes. Could the Digimon, even in their ultimate forms, defeat him?

"Hey, Tai." Sora snapped her fingers over Taichi's musing eyes.

Taichi startled out of his thoughts and blinked. "Oh, what?"

"Something on your mind, Tai?" Sora asked from his side, her amber eyes curious.

"What is very rare, even for Tai," Yamato chuckled softly.

Taichi glared at the blond boy as Kimika pinched on Yamato's arm to quiet him. He felt fifteen pairs of multicolored eyes on him, making him feel uneasy. "Nothing. Just thinking." He fell in silence, his eyes lowering to the half-eaten fruit in his hands.

He could feel Sora's eyes studying him, and then she changed the subject to cheer up the friends. "Hey, guys. I have been thinking about the crests. I wonder why we carry the crests for a reason. What are the crests' purposes? I mean, my crest symbolizes love, Tai's crest symbolizes courage, Matt's crest symbolizes friendship, Kim's crest symbolizes empathy, Joe's crest symbolizes reliability, Mimi's crest symbolizes sincerity, Izzy's crest symbolizes knowledge, and TK's crest symbolizes hope. We do have all those qualities, but why do the crests represent us the most from what we are inside?"

Taichi gazed up at her with amazement with the other eyes of the friends. Sora was wise in her own way, but no one would realize that she was that meditative.

"They are very good questions, Sora," said Jyou.

"Maybe we should ask Gennai," Koushiro declared. "He must know all about the crests."

Yamato leaned back on his arms, his grey-blue eyes peeking out from long bangs. "Where can we find him? He chooses to appear whenever it suits him. And often without expectation."

Taichi listened in silence as his friends engaged in conversation about the crests. He cherished listening to their voices, the voices he grew accustomed to through the hardships in Digiworld. He gazed upward and finally noticed that the sun was setting, the sunlight dimming as the night crept in.

Kimika, too, noticed that, always perceptive and sensitive to the surroundings. She acknowledged the kids, "It's getting dark. Let us go to sleep. We need our energy to move on tomorrow."

As always, Taichi was the first to volunteer to keep watch. Yamato was the next, then Kimika, and the last was Jyou. As the friends went to sleep, Taichi took shelter under a low-hanging tree, resting against the grey, smooth trunk. Agumon sat by his side. He must be tired, for his eyes drooped bit by bit. Taichi would rather sleep, but he felt he wanted some time alone to think, unusually for the athletic, impatient boy.

Taichi reached in his blue shirt and drew out his tiny crest. The tag was polished brass with a glass screen. A circular, eight-pointed star was cleaved in the orange-hued crest under the screen. That was his crest's symbol - the Crest of Courage.

"I wonder what the purpose of the Crest of Courage is. What can it do?" he almost whispered to himself.

Agumon looked up at his friend. "It helped me to digivolve into Metalgreymon, remember?"

Taichi glanced to the small, dinosaur-like Digimon. He didn't realize he spoke out loud. "I know, but what can it do for me? It must be a reason for me to possess the Crest of Courage."

Agumon gazed at the crest and shrugged. "I don't know, Tai. I don't know. Maybe someday you will find out." He closed his eyes and leaned against Taichi. Soon, he was breathing deeply.

Taichi sighed and let his crest drop to his chest.

***

What he didn't know was that someone was watching him from far away. Far away, in a dark, stone castle, in a shadowy chamber, wrapped in his cloak of darkness, stood Myotismon. He watched the unsuspected brown-haired boy from a small portal he used to see far places. He looked blank, yet his eyes of deep midnight blue held such rage that no one of his minions would risk their pitiful lives to face him.

_The kids are learning about the crests, Myotismon silently thought. __They might try to find the hidden power behind the crests. I must not let them do it. For if they have the hidden power, they surely will defeat me . . . I must destroy them! His ice-blue eyes blazed maliciously, narrowing into slits. __Starting with the Master of Courage. He is powerful, dangerous already. But how to destroy him?_

Abruptly, Myotismon smiled with pure evil. With his black magic, he called on one of his loyal henchmen with a silent command.

Obedient, a Digimon stepped in the room, but because of the darkness, he was not seen. Myotismon always knew he was present, always near whenever he commands him.

"Yes, my lord?" The Digimon responded, his voice crackling like the breaking of flames among burning wood.

Myotismon raised a hand, a long, slender finger pointing to Taichi in the portal. "See this boy? I want you to destroy him at once. Never mind the others. I shall take care of them later. But that Master . . . he is the leader and must be destroyed immediately."

He sensed the Digimon bowed deeply, loyally. "As you command, my lord," came the crackling voice. He turned and left the room, leaving no trace of his presence.

Myotismon's eyes turned to Taichi, who was watching the night sky with those passionate eyes. But Myotismon was not easily fooled by false appearances. The boy was dangerous, and soon he will be gone forever. Myotismon smirked darkly.

***

The jungle was filled with the nature sounds of animals and birds, but along with them, came the new voices of the Digidestined as they weaved through the trees and bushes. They were silent with the occasions of a brief chat between two humans or two Digimon to lighten the mood. Taichi, the determined leader, pushed them on, wanting to be somewhere from Myotismon as far as possible. They were on an ascending ground, already tired from the stress of the steepness. Taichi was the only one who encouraged them over his shoulder.

Soon, they found themselves out of the jungle on a high, wide cliff. The kids took a look around in awe. Areas of pink and green trees spread for miles and miles, and right below the cliff, a vast, slow-moving river flowed.

As the kids gazed in amazement, Taichi turned to Tentomon, who was hovering near Koushiro. "Tentomon, is there a way down?"

Tentomon was a jackpot of dependable information, just like Koushiro. But this time, the beetle-like Digimon gazed around with a lost expression in his pale green eyelid-less eyes.

Taichi crossed his arms. "Don't you know?"

Tentomon glanced at him. He spread his claws in an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry, Tai. This land is new to me." He turned to follow after Koushiro, who was walking to see the view better.

"Just relax, Tai," said Yamato from behind. "Let us rest for a while."

The tense tan eyes met the distant grey-blue eyes for a moment. "We must move on. Myotismon is probably following us."

"We aren't hearing anything from him for a day."

Taichi frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Mimi's voice cut through. "My, what a beautiful view!" He turned to see Mimi, Sora, Kimika, and Takeru standing near the cliff's edge with their Digimon near. Jyou and Koushiro were sitting down, resting their feet.

Taichi grunted. "We don't have time to sightsee, guys!"

All looked in astonishment at his sharp words. Yamato putted his hand on Taichi's arm. "Yo, chill, man."

Taichi jerked his shoulder from the touch. "You chill, man! Don't you realize every minute we rest, we are in growing danger!"

Yamato scowled, his eyes darkening, his lips a tight line. Taichi glared back, challenging him to say something. The boys didn't do anything, for Kimika stepped in between the hot stares.

"That's enough, guys," Kimika said serenely. Taichi knew Kimika well; she never spoke out loud to get attention, but the impression she had on her words always turn heads. Yamato's eyes seemed to soften at Kimika's words, and then he abruptly turned away, strolling to his little brother. Taichi grimaced, then Kimika held on his arm, pulling him to one side, away from the group.

Kimika looked up at Taichi with the empathic eyes. "Look, Tai, I know that we must keep going, but look at us." Almost as if she was guiding him, Taichi looked over his shoulders. He saw that his friends looked thinner than before, looking drained. The Digimon were also that; they shared life forces, so they felt the same. Even Agumon, who was always eager and energetic, stood in silence by Taichi, his green eyes watching the view. As Taichi studied the group, Kimika spoke, "We need food and rest. We are not helping each other if we are starved and fatigued."

Taichi sighed with weariness. He didn't realize how tired he was until now. He better watch his health or he would faint from the strain. He would be no good to his friends if he pushed himself too far. He turned to his best friend and nodded once.

Kimika grinned warmly. "Good old Rascal."

Taichi smiled back. He forgot all about their old nicknames to each other. "Rogue," he called back and held her left hand in his left. Kimika held his right hand in her right. A simple handshake that held fond memories. Grinning, they went back to the group. Sora and Mimi were sitting down, now resting their feet. Kimika went to them. Jyou and Koushiro joined with Yamato and Takeru, gazing at the beauty for a long time from the darkness that cloaked them since the friends separated. Taichi walked up to them, also enjoying the view.

Koushiro gazed upward and narrowed his brownish black eyes against the sun. "Hey, what is that?"

All looked up and saw a tiny dot jetting across the blue sky, leaving behind a thin, cloudy streak. The dot looked like a fiery shooting star. Quickly, Taichi pulled out his trusty mini-telescope and gazed through it to the star.

"Is it a comet?" said Takeru, his small voice full with innocent curiosity.

"Probably a meteor," guessed Jyou, sounding logical.

Taichi shook his head at the guesses. "No, it is not either of those, but I am not sure what it is." He gazed harder. "It looks like a ball of fire - no, wait! It's a Digimon!" He lowered his telescope, his eyes wide. "And it is coming straight for us!"

The boys dove for the ground, burying their heads from the sudden intense heat radiating from the hovering Digimon. He landed on his knees, waiting for a second to calm himself from the glide, then stood. He was tall, a giant, manlike. He wore dark pants, barefoot, with pale red skin. He had extreme eyes, the color of cold ashes and red-orange fire as hair on his head.

"Phyrimon?" Tentomon regarded. "It's rare for him to leave his lair, for he is not neighborly. He is one of Myotismon's minions."

Taichi gazed at the fire Digimon with strange, new fear. He didn't understand why was he feeling frightened, but the sight of Phyrimon shook him with terror.

Phyrimon's eyes swept over the kids, muttering lowly, "Where is the Master?" Suddenly, his gaze laid on Taichi, and the eyes blazed for an instant, like dying flames poked back to life. "You." He pulled back a pale fist and lunged it toward the shaken Taichi.

_Agumon, digivolve into Greymon!_

His horned head lowered, Greymon rammed into Phyrimon, sending him rolling into the jungle. Phyrimon shook his groggy head and stood up, his eyes blazing with ire at the giant golden dinosaur.

"Go, Gabumon!" ordered Yamato from Taichi's side.

"You, too, Iyumon!" Kimika commanded.

_Gabumon, digivolve into . . . Garurumon!_

_Iyumon, digivolve into . . . Rianmon!_

Garurumon bared his fangs and howled out, "Howling Blaster!" A beam of blue fire soared out of his mouth toward Phyrimon. The fire had no effect on the fire Digimon, perhaps because of his fiery nature, thought Taichi. Phyrimon kicked the blue wolf in the flanks with such force that Garurumon flew backward, crashing against a tree, groaning with pain.

"Garurumon!" gasped Yamato.

Rianmon thrust her powerful, spiked tail toward Phyrimon. Moving as a flash, he grabbed the tail in midair, not even flinching at the poisoned spikes digging in his flesh, and, like an unwanted toy, threw Rianmon right at Greymon. Abruptly, they glowed for an instant, and de-digivolved into Iyumon and Agumon, too weak to continue.

Phyrimon turned his head to gaze at Taichi, who was unmoving during the battle. "I must destroy the Master."

Taichi shook in horror as Phyrimon silently walked toward him. But then, Sora's voice broke through, "Run!", before she pulled on his shirt. No longer trusting himself, Taichi followed Sora, Yokomon in her arms, toward the jungle, feeling the cold ashes eyes on him.

_Tentomon, digivolve into . . . Kabuterimon!_

Kabuterimon hovered in front the Phyrimon, blocking his vision from the running kids. "Electro Shocker!" He opened his claws, and a sphere of blue-white lightning thrust at Phyrimon. He dodged, and the sphere flew in the distance before exploded in midair.

Yamato grabbed on Kimika's hand and pulled her close to him. "Kim, take TK to safety! We will handle this!"

Takeru shook his head, holding on his brother's hand. "No, Matt!"

"Listen to me!" Yamato gazed down to Takeru with the intense eyes. "Go with Kim now!"

Hesitant but obedient, Takeru ran with the trustworthy Kimika toward the jungle, away from Phyrimon. Patamon took a serious glance at Yamato before he soared after them. Yamato turned to Jyou, Koushiro, and Mimi. "Ready, guys?"

_Gomamon, digivolve into . . . Ikkakumon!_

_Palmon, digivolve into . . . Togemon!_

In a defending line, Ikkakumon, Togemon, and Garurumon faced Phyrimon as Kabuterimon hovered above. They were trying to draw his attention from Taichi, Sora, Kimika, and Takeru, who were entering the jungle with their Digimon. Too late, the others realized that they were at the edge of the cliff.

Phyrimon met the four Digimon champions with the cold eyes. "You are provoking me. Must get rid of you." He shrieked out with horrible high-pitched tones. All agonized at the shrieks, slapping their hands over their ears without success to block. The Digimon de-digivolved into their rookie forms, their energy lost. Phyrimon silenced himself, and his fist blazed with angry flames. He slammed it at the ground. With a sudden, loud crack, the cliff spilt in two. The far end of the cliff collapsed downward - with the eight kids and Digimon on it. Along with Sora, Kimika, and Takeru, Taichi heard in terror as the screams rang in the air before the sounds of splashes drowned them.

Phyrimon turned to them, looking not satisfied at all. He held up a fist and opened it, revealing a crazily spinning fireball. As one, the kids and their Digimon turned to run away . . .

The last things Taichi remembered were intense heat hurtling toward him from behind, an explosion, then all went black . . .

***

The minor pain woke her instantly. Kimika moaned as her body hurt everywhere. She felt like she was thrown and crushed into something. And she remembered heat. Intense heat. She noticed that she had patches of dark burned skin on her arms. Flinching as she touched the wounds, she realized that she must be out for a couple of moments, since the burns were raw. She slowly sat up, bearing against the pain, and scanned around. Thankfully, her trustful Digimon, Iyumon was near, just beginning to wake. She found herself in a partially burned part of the jungle. She saw her red sunglasses laying near, undamaged. She took them and putted them on the top of her head. She was still wearing her red bag, but finding her friends was more important than finding if her precious camera was damaged. She waited for Iyumon to gather her bearings, then suddenly, she heard a sobbing voice from behind her.

"Help. Help me."

Standing up, Kimika saw Sora running toward her. Her face was deathly pale, and her eyes held fear and horror. She was alone, without Yokomon.

Kimika ran to her, holding her. "What's the matter, Sora? Are you injured?" She then saw the minor burns on Sora's arms.

Sora still sobbed. "It's . . . it's Tai. He is really badly hurt."

"How bad?"

"He - he -" Sora began to hyperventilate, shaking so violently.

Kimika held her in her arms, soothing her as if she was a child. "Breathe, Sora. Breathe." When Sora finally slowed her breaths, Kimika's brown eyes gazed in her amber eyes. "Tell me how bad Tai is." She began to worry about her close friend.

Shaking, Sora held up her hands. She had her pink gloves off, and Kimika saw blood, actual blood all over her hands, so much that she couldn't see Sora's pale skin beneath the blood.

"Oh . . ." Kimika's heart clenched with pain.

"I tried to stop the flow of blood. I tried! But . . . so much blood . . ." Sora sobbed uncontrollably.

"Take me to him! Now!"

Sora led Kimika and Iyumon through the burned jungle, and soon, Kimika saw Agumon sitting near a charred bush, looking haggard under his golden skin. Yokomon was softly whispering to him, so softly Kimika couldn't hear the words. And near them, laid an unconscious Taichi.

Kimika inhaled hard through her teeth. He was moved to lie on his back; Sora must have moved him. Dark blood stained his blue shirt, darkening it into dark red. Kimika knelt by him, pulling off her yellow gloves and stuffing them in the back jeans pocket. She gently touched the blood, and it was warm and wet. Again inhaling deeply, Kimika carefully pushed up his shirt. The blood was streaming from open burns, the blood mingling with pieces of charred skin. The burns were on his chest and neck. Kimika never saw such worse burns. Worried, Kimika looked to Taichi's face. The impatient, confident face was deathly livid, his skin drained from loss of blood. He was still alive, but not for long. She must work fast.

"Sora," Kimika looked up, "Do you have your medical supplies from camp?"

Sora nodded, and she got out the supplies from her pink belt pouch. She gave them to Kimika, saying, "Do you know what to do?"

Kimika closed her eyes for a moment. "Let us hope my attention to my father's schooling about nursing paid off." She began to tend to the comatose boy, careful of the wounds. She silently prayed, _Please, Tai, live. Keep living for us._

"What happened?" came a small voice from behind.

Startled, the girls and Digimon looked behind, forgetting all about Takeru and Patamon. He was also burned, but not badly. Kimika and Sora tried to cover Taichi from his vision, but Takeru saw the ghastly-paled boy with the exposed blood. His azure eyes widened at the sight.

"Don't look." Sora turned to him, holding him to her. She turned around so she faced Kimika and the others as Takeru looked away. Patamon hovered near, also seen the sight, but not as shaken as his human friend. "He will be okay, TK," Sora soothed. Takeru said nothing, his eyes still wide.

Kimika exhaled as she putted the last bandages around Taichi's neck. The blood stopped flowing, and some of it came back in his face, coloring his cheeks. She pushed down the stained shirt over the bandages. She would take the shirt off, but she does not want to damage the wounds farther, risking Taichi's life by doing that. Standing up, Kimika turned to Sora. "Sora, we must find materials to build a stretcher. We are in no condition to carry Tai. We need two thick, strong branches and leaves to carry him. Also, we need to find a shelter for protection."

"But - but what about the others?" Takeru's innocent eyes gazed up to her. "My brother?"

Thinking she was crying, Kimika reached to wipe a teardrop from her cheek. Looking down at her hands, which were covered with blood, Kimika realized that she must had left traces of Taichi's blood on her cheek. She was way too sensitive, easy to cry in any situation. She remembered Taichi telling her that she must learn to hold her composure in control. O_h, Tai, she thought sadly, __how can I keep my cool when you nearly died? Sighing, she squatted to the little boy's height, saying, "It's best to get better before we go and search for them. I know they are alive somewhere. I know it in my heart. TK, your brother would want you to help Tai first if he is here."_

Takeru gazed to the still form of Taichi and nodded.

"TK, you can help me gather materials for a stretcher," Sora said, trying to encourage the boy's low soul.

"I will find a shelter," volunteered Iyumon.

"Are you sure, Iyumon?" Kimika said with concern.

"I am the only one who can." Her red eyes swept over small Yokomon and weak Agumon.

Patamon hovered over to her. "I will go with you."

Kimika watched the lizard-like Digimon and small orange Digimon entering a part of the jungle as Sora and Takeru entered in another with Yokomon following behind. It was up to her to guard Taichi and Agumon. She sat by him and brushed away a lock of dusky hair from his still face. Despite the pale skin and injuries, Taichi looked like he was peacefully sleeping. She looked up at Agumon, who sat unmoving, his face a twist of pain, his eyes glued on Taichi's face.

Kimika reached to hold on Agumon's golden claw. "He will be fine, Agumon."

Agumon shut his eyes, grimaced. "I know, but he is so weak."

Kimika's brown eyes turned to her dear friend, confidence in them. "He won't give up."

***

Sora, Takeru, and Yokomon came back with the materials. Sora and Kimika thoroughly built a stable, secure stretcher. Takeru and Yokomon helped; even Agumon helped a bit, but too weak, he remained at Taichi's side. Soon, Iyumon and Patamon returned, acknowledged that they found a shelter - a small cave at the base of a mountain range. Eventually, paying attention to their surroundings, the group was farther from the cliff than to the mountain range. Carefully, Taichi was lifted on the stretcher, and Kimika and Sora carried him, following Iyumon and Patamon to the shelter. It took them a couple of hours to get there, for there were hazards, and often Kimika and Sora have to switch places at the ends or lifted the stretcher to avoid bushes and a swift-moving, small stream.

As Kimika and Sora again checked on Taichi, Patamon and Iyumon went foraging for food and brought the same fruits they have ate last night. The group ate hungrily, to help heal their burns faster. Remembering about her father's schooling, Kimika chewed pieces of fruits and putted the mush in Taichi's mouth, helping him swallow reflexively. Night was coming quickly and, even though none of them was fit enough to keep watch, Sora volunteered to stand guard, then she would wake Kimika for the last watch.

Habitually, Kimika woke a few hours before dawn. She sat up, checking her burns. They were healing pretty fast, due to the food and rest. The healing process went faster in Digiworld than in the real world, Kimika had noticed. By her side, Iyumon woke, stretching all her slender body. Kimika scanned around and found that the cave was empty except for a gently blazing fire and the sleeping forms of Taichi and Agumon. She walked up to them, and, with what a bit left over, changed Taichi's stained bandages. She had the chance to clean the wounds with water dripping from a single stalactite to avoid infection. She again wrapped the wounds with fresh bandages. As she worked, she heard a soft humming from outside the cave.

Finished, Kimika and Iyumon went out. They found Sora sitting cross-legged, leaning back against a boulder, with a sleeping Takeru in her arms. Yokomon and Patamon were nestled together, seeking warmth and comfort. Kimika knew Sora loved to sing, and she probably sang a lullaby to soothe Takeru. Sora pushed back the single lock of fair hair from the boy's forehead, and, as if it was alive, the lock fell back in place. Hearing the soft footsteps, Sora looked up to Kimika. She looked really fatigued from lack of sleep.

"You need to get some sleep, Sora," Kimika spoke gently. "Here, let me hold TK."

Sora stood up and gave Takeru to Kimika. Takeru mumbled in his sleep, the name of his brother included, before settled his cheek on Kimika's shoulder, once again dozing. Iyumon curled around Patamon to keep him warm as Sora picked up the still sleeping Yokomon. Sora made a move to enter the cave, then stopped in the entrance. "Kim?"

Kimika looked back.

"Are you positive that we will find our friends?" she asked.

Kimika nodded. "Of course, Sora. We must keep faith that we will find them. I just know."

Sora smiled. "I think you should have the Crest of Faith instead of the Crest of Empathy."

Kimika chuckled softly. "No, I will leave the faith to little Takeru. The Crest of Empathy is just right for me."

"Why is that?"

"Well, just more than caring about our friends, I can understand what they feel. How and why do they feel? I have insight, able to see and understand."

Sora's amber eyes studied Kimika's brown eyes. "Do you know what am I feeling right now?"

"You are sad. Sad for Tai."

Sora sighed. Kimika can see more than feelings. She can see souls. She gazed down, distressed. "I am. I just hope he will survive."

"He has a very powerful, strong-willed soul unlike I ever see before. He won't give up. It's not him to let go that easily." Kimika gave a comforted squeeze on Sora's hand. "Go to sleep, friend."

Sora yawned and nodded. With Yokomon, she entered the cave. Her heart clenched at the sight of the unmoving Taichi, but she was relieved that he was looking a bit better than before. Agumon was getting well, too. Sora sat by Taichi and laid down. Soon, she heard, from outside, Kimika humming another lullaby from her childhood, hoping to soothe the group's depressed souls. Sora smiled, knowing that they will be all right. Her eyes drooped, and she slid into a rested sleep.

*** 

_Two eyes of blazing flames glowed fiercely in the darkness, floating so near that he could feel the scorching heat on his face. A crackling voice that seemed to speak through flames came out of nowhere._

_You are the Master. You must be destroyed._

Suddenly, a ball of roaring fire burst toward him . . . 

Gasping, Taichi snapped his eyes open. His vision was blurred, but slowly, his eyes adapted to the darkness. Where is he? What happened to him? His eyes met a rock ceiling and immediately assumed he was in a cave or something. But where are his friends? Lolling his head to one side, he saw his Digimon, Agumon rolled up into a ball near him, sleeping restlessly. Slowly, he turned his head to another side and found Sora and Takeru sleeping near, their Digimon also dozing.

Taichi tried to crane his head up to see better, but a slice of red-hot pain stabbed through his chest, leaving him gasping for breath. Calming himself, he waited for the pain to go away. The pain took its time to leave. The pain throbbed inside his chest, and he panted in short breaths to ease the pain. He heard soft footsteps coming closer, and the concerned face of Kimika filled his vision.

Closing his weary eyes, he was so relieved that the pain was immediately gone. He felt the familiar, empathic squeeze of Kimika's hand on his hand. Opening his eyes, he saw Kimika was wiping her wet eyes, also looking relieved. "Hey, Rascal. You scared me for a moment."

"What . . . happened?" Taichi struggled to speak, his voice so dry and harsh. He was thirsty, too. He tried to raise his head, but another shot of pain burst in his chest.

"Don't move," Kimika said, resting her hand on his bandaged chest. The warm touch soothed the pain. "You have serious burns on your chest and neck."

Taichi noticed that he had his shirt off, and coils of bloodstained bandages wrapped around his chest and neck, looking half like a mummy. Kimika had a small wrap on her left forearm, probably covering a burn, few patches of charred skin covering her arms, not as worse as his. The tan eyes gazed up to the brown eyes. "The others?"

Kimika's brown eyes flickered at the sleeping forms of their friends. "Sora and TK are all right." Her eyes lowered for a while, her fingers fidgeting with the knot of her bandage. Taichi knew what was she thinking. The others have to be all right.

Taichi weakly squeezed Kimika's hand to get her attention. "Who tended my injuries?"

"I did."

Taichi beamed at her. "I always know you are a doctor at heart, not a photographer." Kimika answered with a modest smile. She always appeared timid whenever someone praised her, but he knew she did enjoy it. "Well, Dr. Kimika, will I walk in no time?"

She answered with a teasing smile, "Take two aspirins and call me in the morning." Then she rested her fingers on his forehead, her eyes sympathetic. "You do really need sleep, Tai."

Already, his eyes drooped, and he nodded. Kimika was still at his side when he snoozed into an empty, dreamless sleep.

***

But he did have a dream, confused and blurred. He was running in a kind of maze. He didn't know where he was; all he knew was that someone horrible chased him. He panted and gasped as he rounded countless corners of the bewildered maze. He didn't care if he ever gets lost. All he wanted was to get away from whoever was chasing him. He heard his friends' voices calling from above, taunting.

_You are nothing without your courage. Sora's cynical voice._

_You are worthless to us. Kimika's disgusted voice._

_You are supposed to protect us. Takeru's miserable voice._

He slapped his hands over his ears from the voices, screaming to drown them. He turned a corner and skid to a stop. He was at a dead end, blocked.

_You are nothing! His voice! From behind him!_

He turned to see the dark face of . . . 

"Noooo!"

Taichi popped up into a sitting position, his throat trembling with wheezes. Again, the pain burst in his chest, and he bent into a ball, trying to resist the pain. He felt warm hands touching him and arms holding around him, giving him sweet comfort, so sweet that it was almost as painful as the chest pain.

"You are all right. It's only a bad dream."

He rested in the arms for a while and opened his eyes. He was in Sora's supporting arms, feeling the warmth radiating from her body. Looking around his surroundings, he was in a larger cave, its rocks hued red-brown. The ceiling was so high that Taichi couldn't see it. The air was so thick and warm that he had difficulty to breathe in the steam that filled the air. Agumon and Biyomon were near, concerned as they watched him.

Taichi turned to Sora. "Where are we? Where are Kim and TK?"

"We are in Blaze Mountain," answered Sora, letting Taichi sit on his own.

"Where is that?" Taichi touched his chest and cringed in pain. "Have I slept so long?"

Agumon nodded at him. "For nearly a day."

"Tell me what happened."

Sora answered, "Phyrimon found us. The Digimon battled him, but still, he was too strong. I thought he was going to destroy us, but he didn't. Somehow, he hypnotized us to fall into a stupor and I woke in this place with you, Agumon, and Biyomon. Biyomon recognized this place as a volcano called Blaze Mountain."

_That's why it is so hot, thought Taichi. He waited, and then gazed up to her. "Sora, you didn't answer my second question. Where are Kim and TK?"_

Sora pushed back a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. She had her sky-blue hat off, sweating in the heat. "I don't know. Phyrimon must keep them in another cave. I cannot hear out there from here."

Taichi pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He closed his eyes and shivered all of a sudden.

"Tai, you are shaking." Sora putted her arm around his shoulders.

"I had an eerie dream. Someone chased me. I was so frightened. I heard voices - your, Kim's, and TK's, saying I am worthless. Then I was blocked and turned around to see who was chasing me."

"Who?"

His eyes narrowed as he tried to remember. "I can't remember. It's too blurred."

"Don't struggle too hard. It will come back."

Taichi suddenly shook his head violently. "No, I won't want to remember! It was frightful!" He hugged himself tighter, ignoring the pain from the pressures on his burns.

He looked up at loud, stomping footsteps coming closer. Sora was terrified as she stood, facing the direction where the footsteps came from. Biyomon and Agumon stood in front of Taichi, preparing to protect him, the weak friend.

Sora turned to him, her amber eyes hard. "Quickly, pretend to be unconscious!" she hissed softly.

"Why?"

"Do it!"

The bold words made him jump. He could see that she was serious. He laid down and closed his eyes. He forced to slow down his breaths to deep and regular. The air was getting hotter, difficult to breathe. He soon heard familiar voices.

"Kim! TK!" Sora said, relieved.

Then there came the crackling voice of Phyrimon. "The Master is still sleeping?" Taichi found himself struggling not to stiffen at the words.

"Please don't harm him, Phyrimon," he heard Sora pleading. Phyrimon didn't answer at all, but he was still there. Then Sora asked, "Why do you call Tai the Master?"

Phyrimon answered unemotionally, "He is the Master because he bears the Crest of Courage. He must be destroyed at once." Then he left, the heat diminishing in the air.

Taichi waited until he was certain Phyrimon was gone before letting his body go limp. Who was he, really? Why was he called the Master? He didn't want to die because of that.

"Is he okay, Sora?" he heard Kimika saying with heavy concern.

He opened his eyes and sat up. "I am okay." Kimika and Takeru ran to embrace him, glad to see him okay. Iyumon and Patamon went with them, also relieved. Kimika and Takeru were slightly disturbed, tense. "Are you both all right? Was he torturing you?" His eyes darkened at the thought.

Kimika shook her head. "No, we are fine. Are you okay, Tai?"

Taichi nodded, feeling stronger by the minute. He felt the pure azure eyes of Takeru on him, studying him, so serious for a boy so young. "Are you the Master, Tai?" he whispered.

"I don't know what is Phyrimon talking about, but I am not the Master."

"Yes, you are the Master."

Startled, all the kids crowded together in fear as Phyrimon entered the cave. He must eavesdropped them talking. Agumon, Iyumon, Biyomon, and Patamon stood in a defending line before Phyrimon, still too weak to digivolve, but fearless as Digimon Guardians. Taichi felt the cold eyes of the fire Digimon on him, paying no attention to the others. Clenching his teeth, Taichi stood up, ignoring the chest pain, and, heart pounding, walked past the Digimon line. Agumon made an anxious noise in his throat, but Taichi cut him off with a hand. The severe tan eyes gazed up to the passionless ashes eyes.

"Are you afraid?" Phyrimon almost ridiculed.

"Yes, I am!" Taichi's words sharpened. He grew tired of that Digimon torturing him with hazy nightmares and nonsense of the 'Master.' But he never was so terrified than before when Phyrimon only wanted to destroy him. Why him? Why must he be destroyed?! "I don't know who I am!"

"You don't know who you are."

It was Taichi's voice! But it didn't come from his throat. He saw a form in the darkness, the same size as him, moving from behind Phyrimon. The form moved around and stood in front of Taichi. He shook in new horror as he stared in the eyes of himself. Yet the dark Taichi was not he. He wore alike to Taichi, looked exact the same, with the unkempt dusky hair, and the impatient face. The only difference was the eyes, which were dead, like cold ashes neglected to keep alive. 

"Who are you?" Taichi's voice trembled as he stepped back once.

"Who are you?" the dark Taichi echoed with the same voice, but tauntingly.

"I am Tai!" he yelled over the echo.

"No, you are not," Dark Taichi shook his head almost in pathetic pity. "You are nothing."

Instantly, Taichi realized what Phyrimon was doing. He was destroying him by using his most darkest fear - himself. He was always acting daringly and brave, often to cover his true self to his friends. Inside, he was always frightened. He feared that his friends would not look up to him if he were cowardly. Realizing the reason of Phyrimon, Taichi stiffened himself, his eyes darkened as his gaze met the cold gaze of himself. "You are nothing but my fear. To be courageous, I must face and overcome myself."

Dark Taichi smirked. "You didn't face yourself. You are not courageous."

Taichi's face scowled with new strength. "No! I won't let you destroy me! Yes, I fear myself, but because I would not see myself. But I must. I will not give up! I will not give up to myself! No one will make me! I am Taichi!"

His crest glowed orange and surrounded him. An aura of flaring flames encircled him, like he was the source of the fire. Intense pain throbbed in his chest, but Taichi paid no attention, his eyes blazing passionately as his fiery aura. His friends moved not, gaping in unbelievable awe. Phyrimon and Dark Taichi stepped back in disbelief at the boy, the Master of Courage.

Taichi's voice shouted with the very courage of his own soul. "I am the Master! _Passion of Fire!" A gigantic beam of twirling flames emitted from his outspread hands, its scorching heat sizzling his flesh. The beam bound Phyrimon and Dark Taichi from feet to head. He heard the horrible, pained screams as they were slowly dying into red-hot ashes, the only traces of their existences._

The beam dissolved, and so was his fiery aura, leaving Taichi appearing passionless without his fire energy. Slowly, blackness crept in his head, and he swayed. "I am . . . the Master . . ." he breathed before he collapsed, all thoughts gone.

***

He was carried. He was laid down on his back, was carried by a supporter. He slowly woke in the darkness. He was slightly aware that he was in fresh air, and the pain was gone from his chest. He let himself rest, let his senses remember the new surroundings. Unconsciously, he let out a small mumble from his mouth.

"Hey, he is waking!" he heard a young male voice saying. He stopped moving and was lowered to solid ground beneath him. He sensed pairs of eyes gazing at him.

"Hey, Rascal."

The voice seemed familiar to him, and he urged to see what face the voice was belonging to. His eyes fluttered open a crack and saw all blurs. He saw seven vague forms gazing down to him, the winking rays of the sun surrounding them with auras of light. He blinked several times to clear his vision. His eyes widened to see better, but narrowed enough to avoid the bright sunlight. His friends inhaled sharply, their eyes widened in silent shock.

Taichi gazed up at them with puzzlement.

"How do you feel?" Sora said, her fingers touching his forehead.

Taichi's voice was raw, and it was difficult for him to speak. "Confused . . . How long . . . have I been out?"

"A couple of hours, Tai," answered Kimika. "We are carrying you down Blaze Mountain." His eyes went to her. "Phyrimon?"

"You burned him into ashes," said Agumon.

"Burned?"

"You don't remember?" wondered Iyumon.

"All I remember is fire, blackness . . . myself." He closed his eyes at the shaken memory of facing himself.

"Must we tell him?" he heard Takeru whispering.

His eyes flew open. "Tell me what?"

Sora sighed and gazed seriously at him. "Tai, you have changed."

"Changed? What do you mean?"

Biyomon answered from Sora's side, "Since after you . . ." she struggled to find a word, " . . . power or gift or whatever, somehow you have a strand of red in your hair and your eyes are red now, no longer brown."

Taichi frowned in bewilderment.

"We need a mirror to show," Takeru offered.

"Or water," said Kimika. She stood and left under low branches with Iyumon by her side.

Taichi lifted a hand to touch his chest, and then realized that he was clothed once again with his shirt, which was clean, but with few stains of dried blood - his blood. There were no bandages. He felt his chest and neck. The burns were gone; his skin was unbroken. "My burns . . . they are gone."

"Somehow, you are healed," Agumon said.

"How?" No one knew the answer.

Kimika and Iyumon showed up soon after. "There is a small pond not far from here." She and Sora began to lift the stretcher, but, flushing, he stopped them.

"No, wait. I can walk." Taichi tried to sit up, but again, the same pain shattered in his chest.

Gently, Kimika and Sora pushed him back to his laying position. "Rest, Tai. You are in no condition to move. Let us do it," Sora said wisely.

Kimika lifted the front end of the stretcher as Sora held on the back end. Taichi gazed up to the flashes of sunlight between swaying branches as he was carried, remembering what had happened. He didn't want to remember, and laid silently, feeling soothed by the gentle movements of the girls.

Then he was lowered to the ground. He was allowed to sit up, the pain in his chest a sliver, not intense as before. He leaned forward to see his reflection in the silent pond. For a moment, he thought his reflection was not looking back, but it was really him with some changes. His eyes, used to be light tan with eager, hungry ambition, were now bright red. The irises were all reddish with speckles of deep orange and golden yellow. He turned his head so the sun could reflect in his eyes. For a brief time, the irises blazed, like dancing flames.

"My eyes . . . like fire." Then he saw a bright red lock among his dusky hair, curling above his forehead, standing out. He reached to touch it to see if it was real. It was real hair. He gazed up to his friends, who were watching him. "Those things . . . I got them after I get my power?" All nodded as one. He again looked down to his reflection, as shocked as he was. "Unbelievable . . . Would I be like that forever?"

"It's a possibility," said Sora softly.

Taichi took his time studying his reflection, trying to see if it was all a dream and he would wake up to find himself normal. But he was no longer normal, not to his friends, who were now seeing him in a different way. He had a power he never knew he has, and it affected him forever. He may be a different Taichi from outside, but he was still the same inside.

He didn't react when, all of a sudden, raindrops fell from above. He heard his friends responding with relief, welcoming the fresh, cool water. Raindrops fell in the pond, disordering his reflection, but the red eyes - his eyes of fire were unwavering, staring back with courage.

Taichi inwardly smiled and whispered, "I am the Master."

To be continued!


	2. Balance of Sea

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. You CAN'T sue me. I'm terribly poor. Criticism will be accepted and flames will be given to the cold homeless people. At least, I'm nice. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga:

Part Two: Balance of Sea

By Debbie (Dai-chan) 

The sickening feeling of falling seemed to remain in his stomach, the wind flapping at his clothes and hair. It seemed to last forever, wondering if he ever stops falling. Then splashes of icy-cold water surrounded him. Opening his eyes, Jyou found himself floating in a slow-flowing river, the currents carrying him. He drifted for a while, trying to gather his bearings, then his lungs ached from lack of air. He couldn't see the surface of the river, and he began to panic. From above, he would see the blurred rays of the sun shining through the surface, and he swan upward. His lungs cried for fresh air.

The moment he felt the cool breeze on his cheek, he gasped in lungfuls of air, easing the pain in his lungs. Jyou spread his arms to keep floating. He looked around in worried panic. He knew he heard splashes in the river before he plunged in, but he couldn't see any trace of his friends.

Jyou yelled out his friends' names, and waited to hear an answer. He tried again and again, becoming deeply concerned. Then he felt a smooth fin brushing against his legs. Soon, he found himself sitting on a drifting raft made of many, tiny shining fishes, supporting him from beneath.

"Need a lift?"

Jyou looked behind and saw a grinning Gomamon swimming from behind, his pale golden-green eyes sparkling with mischievous spunk. He was so relieved to see the white Digimon that he grinned back. But then he remembered about his friends. He gazed around. "Where are the others?"

As if was answering him, Jyou heard a female voice yelling, "Help! Someone help!" Jyou saw, from far ahead, Mimi hanging on a rock with Palmon holding on her waist, both looking frightened. Mimi was trying to hold a grip on the wet, slick rock.

"Mimi!" Jyou shouted. She looked behind. Gomamon commanded the fish raft to move closer to them. Jyou reached out his hand for her, saying, "Get hold on my hand!"

Mimi grabbed on his hand and hanged on as Jyou pulled her and Palmon out of the water. Mimi and Palmon sat on the raft, panting for breath. "Oh, it was scary," Mimi whispered, and, unexpectedly, she clasped on him, burying her face on his shoulder, slightly shaking.

Feeling awkwardly, Jyou patted on her back, flushing deeply. Then his eyes caught a glimpse of something drifting ahead of them, familiarly red and black. "Tentomon!" he shouted. For some reason, the Digimon didn't answer, floating silently. Growing worried, Jyou directed Gomamon, "Get Tentomon!" Obedient, Gomamon swan after him.

Then he heard a grunt from the other side of the raft. Looking back, he saw Gabumon hanging on the side with his giant paws, gasping for breath. His deep ruby eyes flickered around and said with worry, "Where is Matt?"

Matt and Izzy must be somewhere out there, thought Jyou. They have to be all right. Mimi and Palmon helped pulling Gabumon out of the water as he turned to see Gomamon swimming back, dragging Tentomon. He had an extreme alarm in his eyes. "He is not waking!" he said as Jyou pulled Tentomon out. Tentomon was struggling to take a breath, wheezing in his throat, as if there was not enough air for him. Jyou then realized that something must have happened to Koushiro because of the life force they were sharing.

Mimi must realize the same, for she stood up, balancing against the drifts of the raft, and yelled, "Matt! Izzy!" over the river. She gazed around behind as Jyou looked ahead. He caught a flash of ash-blond hair among the crystal water.

"Matt! Over here!" Jyou also stood, waving his arms.

Yamato looked behind at his words and struggled to stroke to him with one arm as he held up Koushiro. He grabbed on Jyou's outreached hand and pulled himself to the raft. "Take him!" Yamato demanded. Jyou quickly putted his hands under Koushiro's armpits and dragged him out of the water. Koushiro was limp, lifeless in his arms, and, alarmed, Jyou gazed to Yamato, who was climbing out. "He's not breathing!" Yamato said, distress in his voice.

Jyou laid Koushiro down and knelt by him. Koushiro looked ghastly pale, the skin turning blue around his lips. His chest was unmoving. "He's drowning," Jyou regarded.

"No!" Mimi covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

Jyou knew he has to do something. Thankfully, he had read books of duties of saving lives and treating injuries. He was prepared for this situation. Meeting Yamato's grey-blue eyes, he said, "Matt, do you know how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?" Yamato answered with a nod. "When I tell you to, push on his chest eight times."

Taking a deep breath, Jyou leaned down to press his lips on Koushiro's cold lips. He breathed in his throat, in his lungs. The flesh was so cold that Jyou shivered. He pinched shut Koushiro's nose with two fingers and breathed in again. He lifted his lips from the boy's lips, and ordered Yamato, "Now!" Yamato did what he was told, pressing his fists on Koushiro's chest and pushing on eight times. When the pushes counted up, Jyou tried again, breathing in Koushiro's mouth twice before Yamato repeated his duty.

"Izzy, hang in there," pleaded Mimi from near.

Jyou and Yamato tried again twice to revive Koushiro, their faces concentrated, sweat drops forming on their foreheads, mingling with water drops from their damp hair. Tentomon was inhaling hard, difficult to inhale than exhale. Suddenly, in the middle of the fifth push, Tentomon halted breathing.

All went in silence. Jyou looked up to see Yamato gazing back with helplessness . . . 

"No!" All his life, he was a coward, frightening to face anybody or anything. He preferred the sheltered life, safe from strange, bizarre things that might hazard his life. But since he was brought with his friends to the outlandish Digiworld, he learned something new about himself. He was reliable. His friends would rely on him for trustworthy advice and faithful opinions. He will not give up. He will not let Koushiro give up. Enraged, Jyou pounded on Koushiro's chest repeatedly. "No, Izzy! Don't you give up on us! We need you! Izzy! Breathe! Breathe!"

"Joe . . ." Yamato tried to grab on his arms, but Jyou was too swift for him.

"BREATHE!" One last pound.

Eyes flying open, Koushiro's body stiffened up, turned to one side, and vomited out lungfuls of warm water. Jyou held him close, patting on his back. As one, Koushiro and Tentomon gasped for breath and coughed hard. The breaths came in easier. Tentomon raised his head weakly, and mumbled, "Izzy?"

"He is okay for now," Jyou told the Digimon. Inside, he was so thrilled to see Koushiro okay that he was shaking with relief.

Koushiro leaned against Jyou's chest, his eyes fluttering open. "What . . . happened?" he gasped and groaned.

"Don't talk," Jyou quieted him. "Rest."

"Ohh . . ." Koushiro curled into a tense ball and began to shudder violently, a snarl of agony spreading over his pale face.

"What's wrong?" Mimi asked, pure anxiety in her hazel eyes.

Jyou knew the symptoms. Koushiro's body was not used to the sudden changes from water in his lungs to air. "It's too much for him. He needs complete rest. We must get to stable ground." He met Gomamon's gaze. Knowing what he was thinking, Gomamon commanded the fish raft to drift to a riverbank.

They waited until the raft docked to the shore. The shore was low enough for them to step from the raft. Yamato carried a shivering Koushiro in his strong arms as Gabumon and Palmon helped a shaken Tentomon crossing. Mimi found a small clearing near the shore for Koushiro to rest. Koushiro's shudders eased down, and he fell into an uneasy sleep, his face once and again twitching with agony. Yamato laid him down, and he still curled into a ball on his side, his red hair clouding his tightly shut eyes. Tentomon also settled into an uneasy sleep by his human companion's side, slightly shivering.

Jyou putted his bag of supplies down and twisted his soaked vest. "We must get some wood to build a fire to warm up, and of course, dry ourselves." Looking up, he saw that Mimi and Yamato were gazing at him with wonder. Palmon, Gabumon, and Gomamon were also staring at him. "What?"

"You seemed to be calm in this kind of situation, Joe," said Yamato, sitting by the red-haired boy's side. "Usually, you would panic or run away."

Jyou flushed. He self-consciously pushed up his eyeglasses, which were dotted with drops of water. He didn't even think to clean them. "Well, sometimes we must keep our composure like this. Actually, I'm really shaking inside." He rubbed his goose-bumped arms and turned to enter in the forest. "I'm going to find some wood."

"I will go with you, Joe," Mimi said, quickly coming in pace with him. Palmon and Gomamon followed behind, as always. Yamato and Gabumon chose to stay and guard Koushiro and Tentomon.

Soon, Jyou and Mimi were picking wood with their Digimon. Gomamon was picking up sticks by his mouth and dropped them in Palmon's out spread arms. Jyou knelt, gathering sticks in neat piles as Mimi wandered, searching for any scarce wood. Jyou could hear her coming close by her sandals crunching on dry grasses.

"Joe?" came her shy voice. He looked up right in the hazel eyes of Mimi. She smiled. "You did great saving Izzy's life."

Again, Jyou flushed and lowered his dusky eyes. "Usually, I would pass out."

"But you were so brave."

Jyou scoffed. "Brave?"

"Yeah." Mimi knelt by him. Jyou was surprised at her. She would do anything to avoid getting her pink dress dirty, yet she chose to kneel just to talk with him. Her hazel eyes were bright as she spoke. "That's a side of yourself that we never see. The composed, persistent Joe."

His eyes met her eyes for a moment, and then gazed away, focusing on the woodpile. "That's not me," he whispered softly.

"Why do you doubt yourself?" Her sincere voice made him look up. "None of us would do like what you had done to save Izzy's life. You are a hero in Izzy's eyes, Joe." She smiled radiantly, almost lovely. "You are also a hero in my eyes." Almost hesitantly, she hugged him warmly. 

Surprising, Jyou was not flushing or feeling awkwardly. He returned the embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head, pondering her honest words.

***

They built a small fire, surrounded by rocks carried from the river. The fire did enough to dry themselves and all warmed up. Jyou often glanced at the sleeping Koushiro with worry. He appeared a bit better; the color was returning to his cheeks and lips. His body slackened under the soothing touches of sleep. But Jyou could see the few twitches of tense agony on his boyish face. He now and then mumbled in his sleep, his words inaudible. Mimi was sitting by Koushiro, soothing him with a few words of kindness.

Jyou's eyes gazed up to the tense Yamato. He refused to eat anything Gabumon and Palmon have grubbed for the kids, often pacing among the riverbank, deep anxiety in his face. He faced upstream in silence, but often his fists at his sides would shake with tension. He made a move to step forward upstream, but stopped with a furious grunt.

"What's the matter, Matt?" Jyou asked.

Yamato's grey-blue eyes glanced back. "We must find a way to return to the cliff and search for our friends." His eyes seemed to soften with concern. "I hope they escaped from Phyrimon."

Jyou was also worried about his friends, but he figured that, sometimes, they had to be patient and faithful. Besides, there was Koushiro, who was too weak to go anywhere. "First, we must take care of Izzy. He isn't well enough to continue. He's had his first brush with death. He might feel vulnerable, helpless. He needs us now. It's up to us to watch for him. Matt, I am positive that our friends will be all right."

Yamato's eyes hardened for a moment, and Jyou thought he would disagree. Yamato hardly showed any emotions on his distant face; his eyes were the only portals to his emotions. Yamato closed his eyes and turned to face upstream in silence.

Mimi went to kneel by Jyou. She whispered in his ear, "Don't you see Matt is worried about our friends? His brother, mostly?"

"I know that," Jyou replied. "I am worried about them, too."

Mimi watched him in silence, and then gazed up at the sky. "My goodness. I didn't realize it is getting dark."

All looked up at the darkening sky, included Yamato. "Time goes so fast," mused Gomamon.

Yamato pushed his hand through his ash-blond hair, his characteristic gesture. "We all need sleep like Izzy and Tentomon do. I will keep guard."

No one argued with him. The kids and Digimon chose to sleep near the vulnerable Koushiro and Tentomon, surrounding them into a circle in their way of guarding during sleep. Jyou didn't go straight to sleep; he sat up, watching Koushiro breathing, making sure that he was all right. Suddenly, Jyou received an icy, bitter shiver running up his back to neck, the neck hairs standing out. He rubbed his arms and legs, which were once again covered with goose bumps, and looked around nervously. He thought someone was watching the kids, or maybe just him. He gazed over to Yamato to see if he felt the same. But Yamato and Gabumon sat neat the river, their backs to him. Yamato was playing a melody on his harmonica, its tune sad and somber.

Jyou laid down, trying to sleep, but the nervous feeling was still there. Someone was watching him. He turned to one side and closed his eyes. Sleep took a long time to take him.

***

_He often stirred sleepily in the middle of the night, thinking he heard a small voice whispering in the distance, as if was debating secretly. It didn't speak to him at all. No, he heard it three times in a row, whispering from three different directions, but never directly to him. The voice was mumbled, low, that he chose to ignore it, thinking it might be the mumblings of one of his dozing friends. He let sleep take over him._

_He had a dream, or he thought so. It was too real to be called a dream. _

_He often saw an image of his Crest of Reliability's symbol - an outlined cross with four rays of light from behind it - appearing and fading, as if it was weak. It was too blurred, like some shadow covered it, avoiding him to see it clearly._

_He was walking in the darkness. Nothing but blackness everywhere and himself. He just walked on without a goal to fulfill. Then he heard a voice, not the voice he often heard during the night, but a familiar voice, a male one. He immediately recognized it as the voice of Koushiro, but the voice was monotonous, almost spiritless._

"Why? Why, Reconciler?"

_Jyou stopped in his tracks at the words. The words seemed to float around him, taunting him with something he couldn't understand. Soon, he saw the small form of Koushiro walking toward him from the darkness. But it is not Koushiro, thought Jyou. Koushiro's face was deathly pale with cold, blue lips. His eyes, so dark brown that they appear black, were sunken, the lifeless pupils piercing in his soul. His skin was colorless from lack of blood. Koushiro stepped up to him, gazing up to him with the lifeless eyes._

"Why did you let me die?" _he said, almost sorrowful, but still monotonous. It sounded dead._

_Jyou shook with dismay at the lifeless Koushiro, and he moved back one step. "I didn't let you die," __he spoke softly. "I saved your life."_

"No, you didn't, Reconciler," _Koushiro said, his voice now full with loathing. "You let me die because I am not in balance."_

"Balance?"

_Koushiro stepped forward. Jyou stepped back to avoid him, instinctively raising his hands to shield himself. Koushiro continued, "You are the Reconciler who keeps the balance. You let me die because I am not balanced. Only you are in balance and you must be removed. We don't need you or your balance. You must be destroyed__." Like a striking snake, Koushiro's hand shot out and snatched his left arm. Bitter cold bit in his flesh, so painful that he screamed . . . _

Jyou screamed as he woke. He sat upright, shuddering.__

"Joe?"

He turned to see the pale, concerned face of Koushiro gazing back. He was holding his shoulders in order to calm him. "Izzy?" Jyou murmured, then gazed around. His friends were sleeping near the fire, not reacting at his sudden scream. Remembering the dream, he looked down to his arm. There were no marks, but he could feel the cold bites on his flesh where the lifeless Koushiro snatched on. Looking up to Koushiro, Jyou was relieved to see him alive. But he was so pale, bags forming under his droopy eyes. He was smothering back a soft cough. "Izzy, you need rest. You are not well."

"I know, but . . . " Koushiro gazed at the friends, then met his dusky eyes. "I have to do something for you guys. I would be useless to you if I am too weak."

Suddenly, the cold words of Koushiro appeared in his head. You let me die because I am not balanced. Jyou shut his eyes and shook his head to push the words to the back of his mind.

"Joe?" Koushiro was anxious at his reaction.

Jyou sighed faintly. He putted a reassuring hand on Koushiro's shoulder. "Izzy, get sleep. I will stand watch."

"But - ," Koushiro protested.

"Please, Izzy," Jyou said seriously, his eyes meeting Koushiro's black eyes. "Just trust me this time."

Koushiro seemed to be surprised at his words and spoke softly, "I always trust you, Joe. I give my trust in you."

Jyou gazed back with astonishment. "You do?"

Koushiro nodded. "Yeah, we all do, even though we won't admit to it. Matt told me about what you did to save my life." He slightly blushed, lowering his eyes. "I want to thank you."

Jyou smiled, brushing his fingers through his black-blue hair. "Don't mention it." He needed no praise. He just wanted to make sure Koushiro was all right. "Go back to sleep, Izzy. I won't be at peace if you are not getting enough rest."

Koushiro smiled and nodded. He laid down near Jyou. Sleep was quick to take over him.

Jyou's smile broadened, and then suddenly he received the same shiver up his back. Nervously, he looked around him, again feeling that someone was watching him.

***

The next morning, the kids and Digimon woke up refreshed. Yamato and Mimi were overjoyed to see Koushiro well. Koushiro blushed at all the attention and smiled quietly. Gabumon, Gomamon, and Palmon were also glad to see Tentomon all right. The group ate for a while before they set in a search for their friends. They headed upstream, strolling near the riverbank. Yamato and Gabumon took up the lead, determined to find the friends. Koushiro walked behind with Tentomon hovering near, looking a bit weak, but have confidence to continue. Jyou walked behind to keep a protective eye on the red-haired boy as Gomamon stroked in the water next to him. Mimi walked by Jyou's other side, also keeping watch on Koushiro with Palmon by her side.

They walked in deep silence for a while until Gabumon stopped in his tracks, his ruby eyes darkening briefly. "Wait," he told his friends, who also stopped. He sniffed the air in thought. "I smell a Digimon."

All looked around in caution, knowing that almost each of the Digimon they have encountered in the travels always caused them trouble. Soon, a small Digimon stepped out of the jungle and sat on her hind legs. She was as small as Gomamon. She was tiger-like, with orange fur and night-blue stripes, shaped like lightning bolts all over. Pink fur covered the tips of her tail and the tips of her huge pointed ears. Two huge golden eyes sparkled with interest at the kids and Digimon.

"I didn't mean to alarm you," she mentioned, her voice childlike, as soft as a feather, "But I just sensed that you are worried." Jyou narrowed his eyes slightly at her. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar. 

"Who are you?" Yamato said in wary caution.

The small Digimon bowed her head. "I am Aquenmon, a psychic Digimon."

"Prove you are psychic," challenged Gomamon before Jyou shot him a warning glare.

Aquenmon spoke smoothly without hesitation. "You are anxious about your friends who were attacked by a Phyrimon up on a cliff." She gazed upward in the direction of the unseen cliff. Then she cocked her head and grinned, revealing two rows of small fangs. "And you are the Digidestined."

Yamato crossed his arms, looking distrustful as always. "Impressive, but it doesn't impress me."

Aquenmon seemed to ponder for a moment, her tail flickering once and again. "Would it impress you if I offer my help to find your friends?"

All gazed at her with astonished surprise. "Really?" Mimi said, her eyes brightening. "You would help us?"

Aquenmon again bowed deeply, one paw outreached on the ground. "Anything to aid the legendary Digidestined."

"It's great!" Koushiro said with delight. "We will find our friends in no time!"

Jyou watched Koushiro, Mimi, Tentomon, and Palmon huddling around Aquenmon, eagerly asking questions. Aquenmon cheerfully answered every one of them. Yamato walked up to him and, together, they watched the group.

Yamato leaned over to whisper in Jyou's ear. "What do you think, Joe?"

Jyou looked to him. "What about?"

Yamato glanced back. "About Aquenmon."

Jyou's eyes turned to the tiger-like Digimon and chewed his lower lip in thought. "She appears harmless." From the corner of his eyes, he saw Yamato frowning. He was quick to continue. "Look, I know it takes time to trust any Digimon after we were attacked so many times. We must be wary this time."

Mimi gazed at the boys whispering and rolled up her eyes. "You guys, what are you waiting for? Let's go and find the others."

Jyou made no move. "Wait a second. Aquenmon, do you know anything about a Reconciler?"

Aquenmon nodded. "The Reconciler is the one who is responsible to keep balance in trust." Her golden eyes gazed up at him, suddenly seemed intense and vivid. 'Why?"

Jyou kept silent, his pondering eyes meeting her eyes for a moment, not sure about her. Aquenmon made a blithe giggle and turned to stroll upstream. "Let us go on our way!"

All followed Aquenmon among the riverbank. Jyou was walking at the end, keeping his friends in his vision. He still felt that he shouldn't trust Aquenmon about finding the others, but she appeared innocent. And who is this Reconciler? Why does he feel that he is the Reconciler? The words of Koushiro in the dream echoed in his mind. You are the Reconciler, and you must be destroyed. He was recalled of Phyrimon calling Taichi 'the Master' and saying he must be destroyed. Was there any particular reason why Taichi and Jyou must be destroyed? He glanced up from his meditation at the grunt of Yamato from the toying jab of Mimi. He glared at her, rubbing his arm.

"Come on, Matt," Mimi was saying, "Just stop being so cold. We can trust Aquenmon."

"I can choose not to trust her," said Yamato.

Mimi threw up her hands in an exasperated gesture. "Fine. Just be, like, Cool-mon."

Yamato's glare deepened and muttered under his breath, "You are so gullible, brat."

Stopping in his tracks, Jyou heaved a warning exhale and gazed at Mimi. The group also stopped, looking at the two kids. Mimi was looking bitter and severe. Her hazel eyes hardened as she glared back to Yamato. "Brat?"

"You are so self-absorbed, Mimi." Yamato mimicked Mimi's voice with disgust. "'My hair! My beautiful dress!'"

Mimi's delicate face flushed deeply, two rosy spots forming on her cheeks. Her hands clenched into shaking fists, but, because she was a lady, she made no move. She simply glared hotly at Yamato, who also glared sternly.

Koushiro stepped in between them. "Hey, cut it off, guys."

Mimi lost it. She suddenly jostled Koushiro in his shoulder, her eyes blazing at him. "Buzz off, geek! Why should you worry about us? You are so ignorant!"

"Yeah," Yamato turned to a shocked Koushiro, "Poor Izzy, so helpless and . . ." Abruptly, he doubled over in pain, holding his stomach. Koushiro did what he would never do - he just slammed right in Yamato's stomach with an unexpected force. Yamato inhaled in a deep breath, and then his grey-blue eyes pierced right in the boy's black eyes. "That is a very big mistake, Izzy."

Koushiro's eyes were full of distress with a bit of wrath glittering from behind. His voice was shaking, "Maybe I should die so I won't have to bother with you cynical imbeciles!"

Jyou was disbelieved at his friends. He didn't understand how did that happened, but he knew he was responsible to halt that ridiculous quibble. "You guys . . ." he tried to speak out, but his friends still taunted at each other with bitter, hateful words. "Stop it! Now!" But no one listened. They kept on bickering; no one made a move to make the verbal fight physical. The Digimon were also speechless, looking helpless, trying to stop them. All but one . . .

Jyou eyed over to Aquenmon. She was watching the kids with her scheming, successful eyes. Suddenly, Jyou knew. Her voice was familiar, and he realized that she had spoken with his friends during last night. She spoke to them in their sleep, telling false words of distrust into their hearts about the others. That's why Mimi, Yamato and Koushiro were fighting.

_"You!" Jyou's voice was so bold that it seemed to boom in the air. The friends stopped bickering, and looked at him with astonishment. He was glowering at Aquenmon, his eyes darkening from dusky to black. "You are responsible for this!"_

Aquenmon smirked, one corner of her lips curling upward. "Yes, Reconciler, I am."

"Why do you call me the Reconciler?" he nearly bellowed.

"Because you are. Only to destroy you, I must destroy the trust you hold over them." Aquenmon glanced to the three shocked friends and sneered. "I see that the trust is feeble, pathetic." Her golden eyes turned to Jyou. "It will be so easy to destroy you, Reconciler." As she spoke, she increased her height and bulk larger and larger until she gazed down, her tail wagging devilishly. She overshadowed the kids and Digimon. She raised a giant paw and thrust it toward a stiff Jyou.

_Gomamon, digivolve into Ikkakumon!_

_Gabumon, digivolve into Garurumon!_

Ikkakumon blocked the tiger's attack with his bulk, resisting the force silently. Garurumon pushed the group out of the way like a farm wife shooing away hens. Getting the hint, Yamato, Mimi, Koushiro, Palmon, and Tentomon ran for the shelter of the jungle, but Jyou stayed behind, watching the battle.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon bellowed, and a horn-like torpedo burst from his head, soaring toward Aquenmon. She dodged, and the torpedo fell in the water, exploding into a blast of water, showering the kids and Digimon. Aquenmon lowered her head and smashed Ikkakumon in his side, sending him splashing in the river. Ikkakumon shook his groggy head.

Garurumon opened wide his mouth and prepared to bite Aquenmon with his razor sharp fangs. She was too fast for him, leaping and ducking his attacks. The wolf and tiger made numerous splashes everywhere as they circled, pounced, and sidestepped.

_Palmon, digivolve into Togemon! _

Togemon dashed into the river and spun in place, her arms outspread. Shreds of steel needles emitted out of her cactus-like body, darting all over the place. Ikkakumon quickly jumped out of the range. Jyou dodged, but held his place. Needles struck on Garurumon and Aquenmon, but bounced off harmlessly. Garurumon's fur was steel-like, and it appeared that Aquenmon does have steel fur.

"How can we defeat her?" said Mimi, watching the battle hopelessly.

_You are the Reconciler who keeps the Balance. _

It was Jyou's voice speaking in his mind. He was the Reconciler. He was reliable, trusted to keep chaos in balance. Jyou turned to his friends and said with new strength from his soul, "Do you trust me?" Eyes of pretty hazel, distinct grey-blue, and curious black gazed at him with stunned wonder. Jyou repeated louder, "Do you trust me?"

They were speechless, and then Koushiro responded, "We always trust you."

Yamato nodded, his face creasing with a rare smile. "We trust you."

"We have complete trust in you, Jyou," Mimi said with soft fondness.

Satisfied, Jyou nodded and turned to walk toward the riverbank. He ignored Mimi's cry of his name and stopped by the bank. The Digimon champions were weak now, struggling to stand, their eyes glaring at the stronger Aquenmon. Her golden eyes gazed right in his dusky eyes for an instant, then she smirked.

"Well, well, Reconciler. Ready to give up your worthless life?"

Jyou didn't flinch once at her words. He began in a low, serene voice. "With balance, we can do anything if we trust in each other. From chaos, there is a seed of balance, always there to keep chaos in order. Without balance, nothing will survive." His crest began to glow with sheen of pale blue, and soon, he was surrounded by the glow. The aura rippled in the air, taking the appearance of gentle waves of a sea. Jyou was completely calm, his face a peaceful visage. "Whenever there is balance, there is trust."

Aquenmon was not terrified at him. She laughed with disdain. "Impressive, but it doesn't impress me. Dusk Beam!" She opened her mouth, and a beam of dark orange and green discharged from her mouth, soaring toward Jyou. Without a sound, a dome, glowing pale blue, formed around Jyou and his friends, shielding them from the attack. The dark beam didn't even dent the strong dome. Jyou was unmoving, undisturbed. Aquenmon stepped back, baring her fangs, new fear in her golden eyes.

The dome dissolved, and Jyou raised his arms. _"Balance of Sea," he simply whispered, and two thick tentacles sprouted from the river, following the movements of his arms. The tentacles were completely made of water. Each tentacle bound Aquenmon from both sides, winding around her until she was floating in a wall of water. The tentacles pulled Aquenmon right back in the river. No sounds came out at all. No movements beneath the river._

The aura vanished from Jyou's body, and he began to sway, his knees buckling from under him. He collapsed as all went black in his vision.

***

He knew he was only out for a few minutes, but it seemed hours to wake up. He was still groggy from . . . what had happened to him? He laid still, trying to remember, then he heard a feminine voice calling to him from a distance.

"Joe, can you hear me?"

He did hear her, and responded by groaning softly. He opened his eyes and saw Mimi smiling with relief at him. "Oh, you are all right!" She went to hug him, but quickly withdrew herself from it, blushing deeply.

"Are you okay, man?" Yamato asked from his other side, also looking concerned.

Jyou nodded a bit. "What happened?" Then he was surprised at his own voice. It was not the same as before. His voice used to be always shrill with anxiety and worry, deeper. But now his voice was low, soft, balanced. Just like the sounds of a sea.

"You defeated Aquenmon," Gomamon was answering him. Jyou sat up and gazed over to the river. It was flowing calmly, as if was not disturbed by the recent battle. Gomamon also gazed to the river, saying, "She vanished in the river."

Koushiro spoke, "Joe's balance and reliability defeated her." He averted to grin to Jyou with new confidence in his eyes. "You saved us."

Jyou looked down with wonder, and his hand went to his neck, touching. "But what happened to my voice? It's not my voice at all."

Tentomon cocked his head. "No, it's not, yet it is yours. Your voice is like the humming of an ocean."

"Balance of Sea . . ." Gabumon murmured.

Jyou met the eyes of his friends. "I said that, didn't I?" All answered with nods. He stood, surprised at his new balance. He was no longer awkward and clumsy. He moved with a smooth, relaxed grace. He walked up to the river, knelt, and looked down to his reflection. Nothing had changed about him except one thing. He found a thin strand of pale blue that seemed so alike as water among his black hair, lengthened from the left side of his forehead. He stared at the strand with awe, and then raised his dusky eyes to the sky. He silently commanded.

Suddenly, clouds formed in the sky, and fresh raindrops fell on him and his friends. He heard friends reacting to the rain with wonder and delight from behind him. He let the rain soothe his face, feeling the ticklish streams the raindrops left behind as they dashed down his composed face.

Jyou grinned and whispered, "I am the Reconciler."

To be continued!


	3. Reflection of Shadow

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. I would love to, but sadly, the policy says they only need eight Digidestined. Damn. Criticism will be cherished and flames will burn you. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part Three: Reflection of Shadow

By Debbie (Dai-chan)

It was still raining when the eight kids and Digimon strolled under the jungle. They seemed not disturbed by the raindrops, welcomed them to cool their thoughts. They were exhausted from their recent battle, but they were determined to find their missing friends. One was extremely worn out from the battle, had used nearly his entire strength to release his hidden power. It affected him forever with some physical appearances.

Kimika was helping Taichi walking as Sora and Takeru followed from ahead. Because of the irritable pain pulsating in his chest, Taichi could not stand without any support. If he tried to stand by himself, the pain throbbed worse, always leaving him gasping for breath. Even thought he felt a bit humiliated for needing help from the girls, Taichi was thankful the girls were willing to help, anyway. Kimika had her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders, adding her strength to his. Sora did help once and again when Kimika grew tired. Takeru was silent the whole time, watching Taichi with his azure eyes, seeming so serious.

"Stop, Kim," Taichi spoke through clenched teeth. "I need rest."

Kimika let Taichi sit down, resting against a tree. Agumon also sat by him, looking weary, sharing his pain and exhaustion through the spiritual link. Kimika gazed at Taichi with worry. Taichi's forehead was beaded with sweat from his struggle to resist the chest pain. His dusky hair, along with the lone, peculiar bright red strand, was damp from the rain. His eyes were closed, his head leaning on the trunk.

His face cringed with agony. "Why must I suffer this pain?"

"It will go away soon," Sora said, trying to soothe him.

Taichi opened his eyes, and Kimika often stared in awe at his strange eyes. She admitted that she missed his old eyes, which used to be pale tan with impatience and enthusiasm. Now they were blazing red with speckles of orange and yellow, reminding her of a violent fire. He is changed, but, still, he is my best friend, Kimika thought.

Taichi must have realized Kimika was staring at him. He lowered his eyes self-consciously. Again he touched his chest and sighed with soft pain.

Takeru knelt by him, his eyes soft. "I hope you will get better, Tai." The young boy embraced him gently, giving him comfort. Taichi returned the hug tightly, looking grateful. Kimika and Sora looked over to each other and smiled. Takeru was willing to give the kids his ceaseless support by giving hugs. Hugs seemed an excellent cure for Taichi, even though he was not the one who liked to be hugged. Takeru seemed to have a special grace that influence all with warmth and compassion.

At Kimika's side, Iyumon shook water from her right forepaw, looking irritated. She muttered, "Can't the rain stop?"

Kimika raised her face to the rain, feeling the streaks they left behind on her cheeks. "That's all right. The rain makes us feel better, especially Tai." She glanced to Taichi, who once again closed his eyes, contented in the company of Takeru. "He is getter better by the minute."

Sora walked up to her, leaving Taichi, Takeru, Agumon, and Patamon behind. She seemed anxious. "But I'm worried about the pain."

Kimika's eyes were still on Taichi. "The pain might be a side effect to his power. It will go away as long as he won't try to use his power." She assured that he did get the pain when he tapped in his new power, not from his healed burns.

Sora nodded in agreement with her. She gazed at Taichi for a moment, and then said, "I wonder if we would have such power like his."

Kimika shrugged uneasily. She wouldn't want to have that kind of power. It would be awesome to be capable to have such ability, but she wouldn't want to be forever changed like that. "Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps Tai is the only one who has the power. After all he is the Master."

Sora glanced sidelong at her. "He is changed. He's not the same Tai as before."

"I know, Sora, but I believe he is still Tai inside. He wouldn't change that willingly. I know him well." 

The raindrops halted falling from above and the clouds were drifting away by an invisible wind. Kimika noticed that Taichi had his eyes opened and focused on one point at his far left, as if was watching for something. He was engrossed, which was unusual to Kimika. He stood up without any support, no pain passing over his face. The kids and Digimon, including Agumon, gazed at him in surprise, and then they heard voices coming from the jungle, coming closer.

Always voluntary, Patamon hovered forward to see what were the voices. Biyomon, Iyumon, and even weak Agumon stood in a half-circle around their human partners to guard. Soon, they saw Patamon flying back, an excited expression on his childlike face.

"They are here!" he said, and as soon as he mentioned it, they saw the other Digimon - Gomamon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gabumon running from behind him. Agumon, Biyomon, and Iyumon ran to embrace them, glad to see each other once again. Soon, the kids - Jyou, Mimi, Koushiro, and Yamato appeared, looking thrilled to see their friends. Kimika, Sora, Takeru, and Taichi hugged them warmly.

Kimika returned the hug to Jyou and looked up to his dusky eyes. In the joy to see the friends safe, no one noticed the changes in the two boys. Kimika blinked in wonder as she saw something unique in Jyou's eyes. Calmness. She saw a thin, pale blue strand among his black hair.

"You have changed . . . like Tai," Kimika said softly.

At her words, Sora and Koushiro looked at Jyou as Yamato, Mimi, and Takeru gazed to Taichi, seeing that two of their friends were changed. Taichi gazed over to Jyou in puzzlement as Jyou stared back with curiosity. 

Kimika glanced over to Taichi, and then turned to Jyou. "Did you find your power, Joe?"

Jyou glanced down to her. He is changed like Tai, Kimika thought. He is not anxious or tense. Jyou nodded as his dusky eyes again studied Taichi, who was also gazing back.

The friends stood in awed silence at the two boys. Kimika knew that the silence was making them uncomfortable, but she was also amazed herself. Fortunately, Yamato stepped in to break the silence. He spoke, "We will tell you about what happened."

All rested where they were standing, huddled together for comfort and sanctuary. Taichi and Jyou were strangely silent during the stories, seeming to be in deep thought, Kimika noticed. What had happened to them really? How come they have such power that changed them for some reason? What is the real purpose? Kimika entered in her thoughts about the questions as Yamato and Sora continued their stories.

***

Through his pool of seeing, Myotismon watched the kids in furious silence. His blue eyes were blazing darker than the darkness he was cloaked in. He was gazing at the silent Taichi and Jyou. The Master and the Reconciler have discovered their power. They proved to be dangerous to me. They definitely will destroy me . . . he thought darkly. His hand grasped into an enraged fist, shaking violently. He will not let his anger take over him because of some wretched adolescents! He forced himself to breathe, slowing down his rage. Once again composed, Myotismon narrowed his eyes in reflection. I will personally do it myself to destroy all the kids at once. The sooner the kids are gone, the better. He dissolved into the darkness in perfect silence, a sadistic sneer on his pale face.

***

Mimi glanced over to Taichi and Jyou with wonder. "Is it possible for us to have powers like theirs?"

Tentomon nodded. "Highly plausible."

"But why?" asked Palmon from her friend's side. "What is the reason?"

Again, the group was lost to the question, not knowing the answer. Kimika couldn't stop her eyes from flickering over to Taichi and Jyou. She knew that the answer must be in them, but she would not disturb them to find it. She knew they need some time to accept the change in themselves. It's possible for us to have such power, but it seems that only to get that kind of power is to become what our crests represent. 

She reached in her red shirt and drew out her tiny crest. Like the others', her tag was made of polished brass with a screen that shielded the crest that symbolizes her soul. On the silver crest, an image carved into the metal - a single extended line traced into a rainbow, starting at the center, arching four times before curling into a closing spiral at one end. The symbol of the Crest of Empathy. Kimika knew she was empathic, understanding to her friends, but how could she find her power through empathy? Taichi and Jyou did, though. Taichi found his power by courage to face himself and Jyou found his power by reliability to balance the chaos within. 

"Greetings."

Kimika looked up startled with the others at the voice. All immediately recognized the voice - Myotismon's. Instinctively, the kids huddled closer for protection as their Digimon guardians encircled them, facing out. The surroundings were suddenly shifted into an unnatural darkness. A dark, ominous feeling filled the air. The darkness seemed to condense into a floating oval opening of blackness, hovering near the group. Two eyes of piercing, icy-cold blue peeked out and Myotismon unmasked his face.

He studied Taichi and Jyou for a moment and almost bowed with ironic respect to them. "I see that the Master and the Reconciler have come as the legend had been told. May I congratulate them?" He shifted closer.

_Agumon, digivolve into Greymon!_

_Gomamon, digivolve Into Ikkakumon! _

Myotismon stopped in his tracks. His eyes narrowed in irritation at the fanged white walrus and the horned orange dinosaur standing before him. "Don't you fools realize that you will never defeat me?"

"Nova Blast!" A sphere of orange fire emitted out of Greymon's mouth. Myotismon silently cloaked himself in the darkness, and the fireball dissolved as it came in contact. Myotismon again unmasked himself.

Ikkakumon lowered his head and bellowed, "Harpoon Torpedo!" Five harpoons emitted out of his horn on his head. The harpoons charged toward their target, Myotismon.

"Crimson Lightning," Myotismon spoke out, and red lightning bolts crackled from his hands. The bolts surrounded the harpoons, and they exploded in midair, raining ashes.

His eyes burning at the group, Myotismon hissed, "You are too strong together. I must separate you." He began to glow with a sickening green glow.

Kimika bunched closer to Taichi, afraid to see what would happen. Suddenly, Taichi stood up, and so did Jyou. Together, they stood out of the circle of Digimon, moving as one. They began to glow with strange auras. Taichi glowed with dancing flames around his body as Jyou's blue aura rippled in the air as waves of a sea. Myotismon hissed shrilly, and his glow blazed stronger. The boys responded back by their auras brightening intensely. The glows were so bright that the kids and Digimon shielded their eyes, turning away.

Kimika risked looking back. The auras came in contact, and there were two sudden explosions within the blindly glows. There were no vibrations, but she could feel the heat radiating from the glows, burning her back, and she knelt down, shielding her head with her arms. The heat continued radiating intensely, and finally, it cooled down.

Looking up, Kimika saw that the kids and Digimon were gone by half. Taichi, Jyou, Sora, and Mimi, along with their Digimon, were gone without a trace. Yamato, Koushiro, Takeru, Kimika, and their Digimon were left behind, the only ones left to face Myotismon.

Myotismon appeared pleased at that. His glow dissolved and held up a hand. Kimika heard Yamato and Takeru running to her as Koushiro grabbed on her arm. He huddled close, his eyes tightly shut. Iyumon and Tentomon also clustered close to them, also frightened, still too weak to battle. Reaching out for Yamato, Kimika held on his hand, and he and his brother knelt by her, huddled up, with their Digimon at their feet. Only Kimika was brave enough to have her eyes open. Myotismon gazed at them with disdainful amusement. He closed his hand into a fist.

Suddenly, a quake was felt. A rugged crack broke in the earth, opening wide under their feet. Screaming, the kids and Digimon plunged into the dark pit as Myotismon chortled evilly. Their visions were black, and then all thoughts were gone.

***

She opened her eyes to a humming. She laid on her stomach, her head on one side. There was a dim light around her surroundings, but she couldn't find the source of that light. She sat up, careful to see if she was injured or anything. She was not hurt at all, just soaking wet. Wet? She tried to remember what had happened. She remembered a pit in which she and her friends fell in, and the echo of Myotismon's horrible laugh. After that, she couldn't remember the rest. She lost consciousness, and she woke to find herself on a river beach, the river flowing from ahead of her, the water sparkling even in the dim light. That was where the humming came from. She must be beached.

Kimika heard a groan and found her Digimon beginning to stir by her side. She remembered about her friends and called out their names. "Matt? Izzy?" Soon, her eyes discovered the soft outline of a laying Takeru and a stirring Patamon near. Takeru had his eyes closed, looking almost like he was sleeping.

"TK?" Kimika crawled to him on hands and knees, not trusting her balance yet. She pulled off her yellow glove from her right hand and touched her fingers on his cheeks. He was warm. He was all right. He opened his eyes at her touch, his innocent eyes clouded with quiet confusion.

Kimika grinned with sympathy. "Hey, boy. You are all right. You are here with Kim." She held him close to her chest. She picked him up as she stood. Takeru held on her, his arms around her neck firmly. She stood silent, letting Takeru looking around his surroundings.

"Where is Matt?" Takeru whispered, sounding worried.

"We will find him," she said, trying to hide the worry in her voice. The dim light didn't give enough light for her to able to see far enough. Her eyes struggled to see in the darkness behind the light. "Matt! Izzy!"

She heard the sounds of sloshing in the water and found Koushiro wading through shallow water toward her, Tentomon hovering by. His red hair was dripping, and he was twisting his orange buttoned shirt, looking slightly irritated.

"Are you all right, Izzy?" Kimika said with concern.

"No injuries at all," Koushiro mentioned. He shook water from his hair, spraying on Kimika and Takeru. They didn't bother to move, since they were already wet. "Just wet."

Once again, Kimika heard the wet footsteps from her other side. Yamato walked up to her, also wet. Gabumon was heard mumbling bitterly about 'stinkin' fur.' Kimika gazed at the blond boy with deep concern. Yamato caught her eye and smiled reassuringly, acknowledging her that he was okay. Kimika always liked his rare smiles that showed his true soul of tenderness and loyalty. It was a surprise that no one had noticed that. Yamato saw his brother cringing on her.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. Takeru looked up at his voice and held up his arms to him silently. Yamato took him in his arms. Kimika watched them with sad memories. She remembered that her brother did hug her like that. She and Trevor were very close. She began to miss her family. "Are you okay, kiddo?" Yamato asked. Takeru nodded slightly, his eyes lowered. Concerned, Yamato gazed up to Kimika.

Kimika fidgeted with one of her thin black braids, meeting his eyes with sympathetic rue. "He saw things that are not supposed to be seen for young boys." She remembered Takeru's unexpected encounter with a badly injured Taichi earlier.

Yamato's grey-blue eyes seemed to harden with regret, unconsciously embraced his brother more firmly. He nodded and scanned around his surroundings. "Where are we?"

Tentomon mentioned from above their heads, "It appears that we fell in an underground cave." Kimika noticed that they stood on smooth rocks, slick with green algae. The walls of the cave were seen from behind them, but the river flowed in front of them, swiftly moving. She still couldn't find the source of the dim light.

Koushiro knelt by the river and watched the swift currents. "The river must has softened our fall and beached us here."

Kimika frowned at that. Why couldn't she remember falling in the river?

"But how can we get out of here?" Yamato sounded impatient.

Kimika putted a gentle hand on his arm to calm him. "We will continue and search."

Before she could take a step anywhere, Gabumon made a suspicious grunt. His ruby eyes carried as he sniffed the damp air. The kids and Digimon waited patiently. They trusted his keen sense of smell. "I smell something," said Gabumon.

Iyumon also sniffed the air, also having a keen sense of smell. Her bright red eyes widened with bewilderment. "Food?"

Kimika frowned again. She had learned from her adventures that she shouldn't expect everything happening was real. Not everything was real to the touch. She began to learn the truth behind the illusion, and she couldn't bring herself to believe in Gabumon and Iyumon's sense of smell, even though the delicious scent of food filled her nose.

"Show us where," said Koushiro. Before she could stop them, Gabumon and Iyumon led the group upstream. Kimika stood still for a while, trying to believe, but she was still doubtful. She followed behind, hugging herself to keep warm from her damp clothing. They didn't have to go far; there on the floor, a colorful blanket spread on the ground, covering with silver plates and bowls of appetizing food. Every kind of food they could ever imagine filled every bowl and plates, overflowing. Already, the Digimon went straight to eat, wolfing down the food in sight.

"Matt, I am hungry," Takeru said, looking down to the food hungrily.

"Ok, kiddo." Yamato sat down with Takeru on his lap. He reached for a piece of peach pie and gave it to Takeru, who munched in.

"Matt," Kimika said from behind, "It might be an illusion." But Yamato didn't respond at all, watching close to his brother protectively. He even took a pear and bit in it, looking pleased at the taste.

Koushiro looked up to Kimika, shrugging. "It may be an illusion, but beggars can't be choosers, you know." He knelt by Yamato and took a boiled, seasoned egg, biting in it.

"Yeah, but soon you might wonder why you are still hungry after an hour." Her stomach suddenly growled, and her hand went to it. Kimika admitted she was really hungry, and the food looked really tempting to eat. Sitting cross-legged by Yamato's other side, Kimika took red grapes and slowly ate them, still not accepting the tangy flavor.

All ate in silence, their minds on food. Soon, their hearing perked at a strange sound. It sounded like faint humming that was pleasing to the ear. They scanned around for the source, until Takeru gazed up to Kimika with wide eyes. "Kim, look!" he pointed to her chest.

Looking down, Kimika saw a glow from behind her red shirt. She reached in and drew out her crest. It was warm to the touch, its silver glow pulsating slowly, illuminating her face.

"Is it responding to something?" Patamon asked, his curious azure eyes on the crest.

The humming got louder until it was buzzing, not shrill to the ear. The glow brightened. Then something responded back. All looked up to see a stone wall with a small square-shaped glow, also pulsating silver. The glow brightened and then dimmed, dissolving to reveal a small opening in place of the glow. Kimika's crest stopped glowing, but still warm.

"Would the crest have found a way out?" wondered Koushiro, his black eyes on the opening, ever inquisitive.

"It must be," Iyumon said, confident. "It never failed us."

Kimika gazed at her crest in her hands. She knew the crest never failed her at all. It was part of her. If the crest would fail her, then she would fail herself, too. But why was she feeling so uneasy? She didn't understand why did she doubt about the surroundings and food. It didn't feel right to her. She felt a warm hand, touching her hand with concern. Looking up, Yamato was smiling at her with kindness. Kimika smiled back modestly, feeling better that someone believed in her. Yamato helped her standing, smiling that secretive grin before turning to his brother, who was walking with Koushiro to the opening. Kimika squeezed her crest confidently and let it drop to her chest. 

Koushiro and Tentomon entered first in the opening, Takeru and Patamon following behind. Yamato and Gabumon entered with Kimika and Iyumon by their sides. The group stood in the darkness, letting their eyes adapting. But the darkness was too dark to be able to see. The dim light, which had been shining from outside, was gone. The group was afraid to leave each other to avoid getting lost.

"Greetings," came a piercing, yet hushed feminine voice from above.

Abruptly, an obscure pearly light shone from everywhere without a source, filling every corner of the surroundings, banishing the darkness. The group jumped at the voice, moving closer to each other.

"Who is there?" Yamato demanded.

The voice sounded friendly, like it was welcoming them. "I am Arachnimon, and welcome to my Hall of Illusions."

"Hall of Illusions?" Tentomon murmured, gazing around. The group was in a sort of lengthened hall, but it was hard to tell, since the light colored the walls the same. The ceiling was so high that they couldn't see it. Kimika suddenly felt like she was standing in a universe of eternal light, where there was no darkness and all peace. She felt like she will be lost in that illusion.

"Yes," the voice, Arachnimon, was answering, "Where anyone can challenge his or her mind and solve my unsolvable enigmas. Pardon my nosiness, but I was eavesdropping. At the other side of my hall, is the way out to the outside. Only if you solve my riddles, you may leave this place."

Something in Arachnimon's voice made Kimika grow suspicious. "Why should we believe that you tell the truth?"

Arachnimon chuckled with polished courtesy. "May I greet the Seer?"

Kimika staggered at the words. She felt the supported arm of Yamato around her waist, and she leaned against him, wondering. She suddenly visualized that Arachnimon was actually bowing respectably at her as she spoke the words. She remembered that Taichi and Jyou were called the Master and the Reconciler. Did that means she does have such power like theirs?

Arachnimon spoke gently, "Seer, you always see the truth in illusions, but I am telling the truth. The way out is at the other side. All you have to do is enter, solve a riddle, and you are on your way."

Kimika gazed at the boys and Digimon. They were gazing at each other, seeming to think the suggestion of Arachnimon over. Koushiro met Kimika's gaze and said, "We have no other choice."

Kimika said nothing, looking downward. Inwardly, she grimaced. Must they trust Arachnimon? It was true that they have no other choice, but she felt that there must be a way. There must be. Only if she could see it. See. She shuddered all over at the word and inhaled a shaken breath. She gently tore herself from Yamato's support and continued her way down the hall, Iyumon hurrying to keep up. Her friends moved up with her.

Kimika had her brown eyes down, not seeing where she goes. She simply followed Yamato's booted feet as he walked by her side. She could sense that Yamato was concerned about her, but she said nothing, do nothing. She was so focused by walking that she was jostled from her thoughts when she was stopped by Yamato's hold on her arm. Looking up, she saw that they were blocked by a dead end ahead, though it seemed impossible to tell the difference from the same colors of the nearly walls.

"I knew it," Iyumon hissed bitterly, her curled tail twitching. She was as doubtful as Kimika.

Arachnimon spoke again from above, like an announcer, "In order to continue on your way, you must solve a riddle."

"How many riddles must we solve?" Gabumon growled with the same bitterness as Iyumon.

"Depends on your willingness." Kimika blinked at that. Willingness? What does that mean? She heard Arachnimon clear her throat. "No sooner spoken than broken."

"Is that the first riddle?" asked Patamon.

No answer responded to him. Patamon gazed to the kids with puzzling azure eyes. Gabumon glanced at Iyumon, both confused. Kimika turned to Yamato, who was shrugging with bewilderment. Even Koushiro and Tentomon, the valuable vessels of never-ending knowledge, appeared lost at the riddle.

Then Takeru tugged on Kimika's shirt and she gazed down to him. He beckoned her to crouch. She knelt to his height, and he leaned to her ear. He didn't whisper, but spoke clearly, "Would the answer be silence?"

Arachnimon again chuckled from above. "The boy is correct." The dead end dissolved to reveal another part of the hall.

Kimika grinned at Takeru and hugged him warmly. Takeru giggled with happiness, and her heart swelled to see the young boy back to himself. Together, the group continued on their way. The hall seemed to ascend, but slowly. Perhaps the hall is bringing us to the surface, Kimika thought with delight. They should be all right solving the riddles, and they will be out of here in no time. Soon later, they entered in a massive, closed chamber, also glowing with the same, hazy light.

"Now what?" muttered Tentomon.

"Oh, eager to solve another riddle?" Arachnimon was sounding enthusiastic.

"We just want to get out of here," Yamato said, biting the words.

"Oh." The voice sounded offended, insulted.

Kimika tightened her lips. "Hey, we must not upset her," she said softly to her friends. "She might be the only one who can take us out of here." She gazed at Yamato with sharp eyes. He nearly blushed before looked away.

The she heard Arachnimon speaking with childish gaiety. "Voiceless, it cries. Wingless, it flies. Toothless, it bites. Mouthless, it mutters."

"My, it's a hard one," said Gabumon.

Kimika feared that the riddles would get harder to solve. She pondered deeply, then noticed Yamato was grinning knowingly, his grey-blue eyes sparkling. "Matt, do you know?" Kimika asked, feeling guilty to snap at Yamato earlier.

Yamato nodded and winked at her. "Wind."

From above, Arachnimon giggled. "Excellent."

All of a sudden, as if a giant Digimon inhaled in a deep breath and heaved it out, a sudden gust of wind blasted from nowhere. Tentomon screamed with alarm, fluttering his gossamer wings, furiously as Patamon tumbled backward over head and feet.

"Matt!" Takeru screamed. Because of his light weight, the wind began to lift him off his feet. Yamato grabbed on Takeru's hands and tried to hold on as Takeru's feet swooped up in the air. Takeru's hat flew off and so were Kimika's red sunglasses. Yamato was strong enough to keep his place, but his feet began to slide forward on the ground as he tightened his grip on his brother. Gabumon and Iyumon were able to drive their talons in the ground, keeping a hold. Koushiro held on the blue wolf's back as Kimika had her arms around Iyumon's waist.

As suddenly as the gust appeared, it stopped blowing, and everything was calm. Takeru fell in Yamato's arms, both collapsing to the ground. Tentomon and Patamon gathered their balance and hovered with befuddlement. Kimika pushed back her black braids from her vision and gazed around to make sure her friends are all right. Her sunglasses fell beside her, and she putted it on the top of her head. Yamato was picking up Takeru's hat as Koushiro stood up, dusting himself, looking annoyed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Koushiro demanded, gazing upward.

"This is the Hall of Illusions," Arachnimon said, "Where you can experience the riddles."

"You would warn us," snarled Yamato, soothing his shaken brother.

"You didn't ask."

Yamato burst into a standing position, clenched fists shaking, his grey-blue eyes blazing upward. "Why you!"

"Stop," Kimika expressed the word with sharp boldness. Yamato returned his glare at her, his face twisted with fury. Kimika's brown eyes deepened, staring right in Yamato's eyes, unwavering, until he finally looked away. Kimika would never lose her temper to anyone, but she was, too, upset at Arachnimon for what had happened. She knew that anger didn't help anything or anybody. She knew. She had done that, and it hurt her deeper than she thought. She stood up, sighing. She said softly, "We must continue, but this time, we will be alert and ready."

She didn't really have any qualities a leader would have - she always left the choices up to Taichi - but she felt she was now responsible to watch over her friends and take them to safety from Arachnimon. To her surprise, all nodded in agreement at her, even Yamato. A part of the wall ahead dissolved into another part of the hall, and the group continued on their way. Koushiro, Takeru, Tentomon, and Patamon volunteered to walk ahead, their eyes scanning carefully, but with curiosity instead of caution. The rest walked behind, taking up as back guards.

Kimika heard Yamato clearing his throat. "Kim? I apologize."

She glanced sidelong over to Yamato. "Why?"

Yamato's eyes softened for an instant, then hardened once again. He gazed downward, uncertain what to say.

Kimika brought her eyes forward. "I know what do you feel, Matt. Don't worry. We will get out of here and find our friends. You needn't apologize to me about earlier. I understand."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Yamato was smiling, not the secretive grin, but a warm, almost handsome smile that she seldom saw. "It's like you can read my mind," he said.

Kimika blushed deeply, shyly gazing back. Then a bitter cold breeze brushed against her cheek, startling her. Yamato held up an arm to shield the coldness from her face, protecting her. His ash-blond hair swayed in the breeze. The rest moved closer to them, now cautious.

Kimika heard Arachnimon speaking from above, but something in her voice made Kimika pausing breathing. She sounded like she was planning something. But what? "Here is the third riddle. What lives in winter, dies in summer, and grows with its roots upward?"

"Oh, it is right on the tip of my tongue!" exclaimed Tentomon.

Koushiro was quick to answer. "An icicle!"

Kimika's neck hairs prickled. "NO!" she shrieked, and then fell in a horrified silence. The boys gazed at her in puzzlement, and then they heard cracks from above. Sudden cracks and quakes were present.

"Run!" Kimika bellowed.

At the same instant, icicles of all sizes plummeted from above. Gabumon heaved Iyumon out of the way as Tentomon and Patamon dodged the icicles in midair. Koushiro dove from an approaching gigantic icicle's path, avoiding the sprayed pieces from his eyes. Yamato snatched Takeru by his waist and shielded him as an icicle crashed behind.

Kimika was so concerned about her friends that she didn't pay attention to herself. She didn't know that a sharp, slender icicle was plummeting after her. Unnoticed, she moved out of the way, but not fast enough. The tip scraped on Kimika's right arm, drawing a thin, rugged line of blood among her upper arm.

"Ah!" Kimika gasped, gripping on her arm, resisting the sudden waves of pain, her arm numbing from both pain and coldness. 

"Kim!" Yamato ran to her, holding her arm gently, offering concern. "What happened?"

Kimika shook her head. "Just a graze." She let go her grip and looked down to her arm. The graze was not worse. She will do fine for now. She squeezed her fist to bring feeling in her numb arm.

"I apologize for any injuries, Seer," Arachnimon said ashamedly, but Kimika grimaced slightly. Arachnimon was not ashamed, but tauntingly. Kimika can notice the emotions in the voices well.

Kimika gazed up, wishing to see what creature the voice belonged to. "Why do you try to hurt us? We did nothing to you, Arachnimon."

Arachnimon answered with carelessness, "If you want to get out of here, riddle me this. This is light as a feather, yet no one can hold it for long."

Kimika drew in a sharp breath, stiffened up. She knew the answer immediately. "No. No, no, no! I refuse to answer it!"

"Then you will be stuck here forever."

"Kim?" Yamato said with worry.

Kimika gazed to him, then to the others with sorrow. "If I answer this riddle . . ." She shut her eyes and shook her head violently. "No, I won't! I don't want to lose you guys."

She felt touches on her arms. She shoved them away, but Yamato held on her shoulders until she calmed down. Her eyes opened and gazed at him. Yamato spoke tenderly, "Kim, it might be our only hope."

"No."

"Do it!"

Kimika bit on her lower lip, shaking her head. Seven pairs of eyes eyed her, pleading her silently. Kimika tried to swallow to wet her sudden dry throat. "It must be an illusion. None of this is real. Not real." Yamato let go of her, and she sighed, closing her eyes. "The answer to the riddle is . . . one's breath." 

Afraid to know, yet already knew what will happen, she heard her friends stopping breathing and gasped for breath. Opening her eyes, she saw the group clawing at their throats, struggling to inhale a breath. Their eyes were wide with panic. They could not breathe!

"Give me another riddle!" Kimika screamed, sudden tears forming in her eyes.

"Why?" Arachnimon asked.

"Please! Anything to save them!"

"It can't be seen, can't be heard, can't be felt, and can't be smelt. It lies behind stars, empty and fills holes. It ends life, kills laughter. It's everywhere and nowhere."

Kimika began to pant with panic. How could she answer that?! Behind her, she heard her friends keep gasping for breath, but they sounded weaker. They are losing their strength! They are going to die because of me! She was so blind to be unable to stop that Digimon. Kimika clenched her fists, angry tears streaming down her cheeks. She was blind to her friends. She was blind to herself. She jolted with recognition. Blind . . .

"Darkness is the answer!" she screamed.

Abruptly, everything went black. She heard her friends panting, able to breathe. Overjoyed that her friends were okay, Kimika nearly sobbed with ecstasy. She reached for them, feeling the darkness, seeking for a friendly touch. But she couldn't find them. Worried, she felt farther for any solid structure.

"Iyumon! Matt!" She waited, but no one answered her. "Guys!" Still nothing. She again gazed upward. "Arachnimon! Where are my friends?"

Arachnimon's voice changed completely, now scheming. "What friends? They are nothing but mere illusions, Seer."

"Why are you calling me the Seer? Who am I?"

"You are the Seer of Empathy."

Kimika shut her eyes to hold back new tears. "Where are they?"

"Why should you care?" Arachnimon spoke, the voice coming from behind.

Kimika popped her eyes open, her body went stiff. Her voice was hard with emotions. "I always care. I never stop caring, Arachnimon."

Arachnimon answered back, "You are the Seer of Empathy who sees everything. You are able to see what are in people's minds, know and understand the emotions. You can see the true souls. You can see the reality. Because of all that, you must be destroyed."

"No . . ." Kimika murmured, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

"Riddle me this, riddle me that. What have eyes yet cannot see?"

As Arachnimon spoke the riddle, the darkness slowly lightened up, just enough for Kimika's eyes to adapt. She heard a faint clink from behind her, and she twisted around in alarm. She saw a dark figure against the darkness, seemed to crawl toward her. It made metallic clinks as it crawled. The light brightened, and soon, she could see the figure well. The light reflected off eight metallic legs of a small red spider crawling. Two small eyes of deep blue were unblinkingly eying her. Kimika gasped stepping back.

"Needles, storms, potatoes, and . . . you, the Seer."

She felt a cold touch on her shoulder, and she gave out a frightened yell, jerking herself from the touch. The light brightened into the hazy, white glow, and Kimika gazed around. A black web covered a wall, jet-black against soft white. A gigantic spider-like Digimon gripped on the web with her six slim, scarlet legs. The other two legs were black claws, tucked under her body. Eight eyes the color of a cloudless sky, but not as innocent, glared at Kimika with loathing delight. Saliva dripped from her two long fangs.

Then Kimika saw her friends wrapped with black web silk, wrapped all over except their heads, looking like cocoons. They struggled hard to free, mumbling behind their muffled mouths, which were covered with web silk.

Thousands and thousands of tiny red spider Digimon crawled toward her from everywhere, surrounding her into a circle of scarlet. Kimika began to pant in terror - one of her reactions to danger. Arachnimon was using her most frightened fear - spiders. She loathed spiders! She hated every fiber of that horrible, ghastly . . . bugs! Thousands of tiny, blue reflected eyes gazed at her, giving her unpleasant shivers all over.

"No!" Kimika whimpered. "They're all illusions, illusions, illusions . . ." She began to chant the same phrase over and over under her breathes.

"A Seer who cannot see, "Arachnimon said. She shook her head, sneering. "Pathetic. A worthless Digidestined."

Kimika began to shake with growing rage. She was not worthless to her friends. She was valuable to them, as each one of them was valuable to each other. She will not let that spidery Digimon take control of her. "It's all an illusion. The spiders are not real. They are not real! " 

Her crest glowed silver and the aura surrounded her body. The silver aura was hazy, shadowy, rippling in the air with tiny spiral streaks of black shooting from her body. The aura reflected off the small spiders, and they simply dissolved into thin air, unable to resist the power of the aura. Kimika gazed at Arachnimon with hidden rage, the rage she thought she would never has. It hid beneath all the gentleness and empathy, waiting to be revealed. 

Kimika bellowed, "You are not REAL! _Reflection of Shadow!" A spiral of silver and black light emitted from her fists. The light was so bright that it stabbed pain in her eyes, forcing her to shut her eyes. Even though, her eyes still hurt so painfully. She heard Arachnimon screaming in the surroundings of the shadowy light, then suddenly silenced._

The light and the aura dissolved. Even though her eyes were closed, Kimika sensed that Arachnimon and her spider children were gone forever. Her knees buckled under her, and she collapsed to her knees and hands, panting hard. Her eyes no longer hurt. She heard the voices of her friends speaking out and the running of footsteps. She felt hands holding her shoulders, supporting her, letting her gather her breaths and strength.

"Kim, are you injured?" Yamato asked with worry.

Kimika shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I am just exhausted." She opened her eyes, gazing up. She saw her friends widening their eyes, involuntarily jerking backward from her in alarm. What? What is the matter?"

Yamato frowned in concerned puzzlement. "Can you see us?"

Kimika was confused. "Yes, Matt, I can see you. I can see you all." Then she realized. She remembered that Taichi and Jyou received some physical changes since they got their power. She got her power, and she might be changed. "Did . . . did I change?"

Koushiro gazed at her with amazement. "Your eyes . . . they are all white, irises and pupils, too."

"And you have a golden braid among your braids," added Patamon. Startled, Kimika felt for her hair and brought several braids in her vision. One of her thin braids was golden-yellow, like a lone ray of the sun among her dark hair. She gaped at the braid in awe.

"They must be side effects on you from your power," said Tentomon.

"But it didn't matter," said Takeru with confidence as he gazed around to the group. "She is still our Kim." He looked to her with brightness in his azure eyes. "And you saved us."

"And look!" Gabumon exclaimed, pointing from behind Kimika. She looked upward and saw a narrow stairway sprouting from their feet, opening to the surface. "The way out!"

"The way out . . ." Kimika murmured. She stood up with the help of Yamato. "It is there the whole time. We have to see the truth behind the illusion to find the way out."

"And you did saw the truth," Iyumon said proudly, grinning at her human friend. "You are definitely the Seer!"

Patamon leading the way, the group ran upstairs, eager to get to the surface. Kimika was left behind, watching them with her new eyes, the eyes of pure white. She pondered Iyumon's words. "I am?" she whispered, and then smiled with usual gentleness. "I am the Seer." 

Yamato returned to her. He was smiling back, looking not awed at her as the others, but the same with loyal tenderness. He held out a hand, and, without any modesty, Kimika took his hand. He squeezed affectionately, and, together, they went upstairs to the surface, to freedom.

To be continued!


	4. Essence of Earth

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. If I do, I will make this saga a MOVIE! And it won't be butchered like the Digimon Movie. Pity. Criticism will be loved and flames will be hated. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part Four: Essence of Earth

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*

A leaf tickled at her nose. Her senses abruptly woke, and she sneezed, sending the leaf flying up in the air. She opened her eyes and saw that colorful leaves covered her. Shreds of sunlight winked at her through the spaces between the rainbow-colored leaves. She sat up on her knees, brushing off leaves from her pink dress and golden-brown hair. Her surroundings seemed the same - thick, colorful trees, pleasant nature sounds, and drifting leaves from high branches. Only one thing was different. She was alone.

"Where am I? Hello?" Mimi murmured. She took her hat, which was by her feet, shook it free from the leaves, and putted it on, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. Mimi gazed around her right and left, seeing for any familiar glimpses of her friends. She noticed a small bump in the leaves, beginning to stir. It must be Palmon.

She crawled to her and helped her brushing off leaves. "Palmon, are you all right?" Mimi asked, concerned. Palmon smiled her crooked, but sweet grin, her emerald eyes glittering. Mimi smiled back in relief. Palmon was very close to her, and she would be quite lost if something wrong happens to Palmon.

Mimi looked up at the sounds of dry crunches on leaves, coming closer. "Mimi? Palmon?" came a feminine voice. She saw Sora shuffling through the jungle toward them with Biyomon flying ahead.

"Oh, Sora!" Overjoyed to see her, Mimi stood and ran after for Sora. She embraced her tightly.

Sora returned the hug, smiling. "I'm here. It's all right." Mimi let go of her and saw the concern on Sora's serious face. "But we must find our friends as soon as we can."

"But now?" Mimi said. "This place doesn't look familiar to me."

"You are right." Sora also scanned around, taking in the surroundings. "I remember Myotismon attacking us. Then Tai and Joe glowing . . ." She stopped, her amber eyes meeting her hazel eyes. 

"Where are they?" Biyomon spoke out the girls' thoughts.

"Where are you?" Palmon shouted, cupping her plantlike hands around her mouth.

Sora and Mimi also called out for a moment, and then Mimi saw the two boys with their Digimon coming toward them through the jungle, brushing off leaves. At first glance, Mimi knew the boys would never be the same as before. They were different now. Taichi, with his eyes of fire and that strand of red hair, seemed now secure and deliberate than before, no longer impatient. Jyou, with his strange, meditative voice and the lock of pale blue, was more composed and judicious. For a reason, their unfamiliar personalities frightened her a bit.

Mimi moved closer to Sora, whispering, "They scare me, Sora."

Sora genially patted on her arm, whispering back, "I know, Mimi." She took a deep breath and stepped forward to the approaching boys. "What had happened?"

Taichi seemed to hesitate for an instant before spoke, "We tried to protect you all with our powers from Myotismon, but . . ." He stopped, glancing sidelong upward to Jyou.

Jyou's dusky eyes were peculiarly wistful. "Our powers are too weak."

They sounded like they were . . . humiliated. Mimi could see the confusion on Sora's face. She admitted that she was confused, too, and she gazed perplexedly at the boys. Sora gave out a small sigh. "Well, let us hope they escaped from Myotismon." She turned to Taichi, rich concern in her eyes. "How is your chest?"

Taichi unconsciously touched his chest and raised his eyebrows in surprise. He took several deep breaths to make his chest expand. His red eyes sparkled a bit with marvel. "The pain is gone."

Mimi wondered at that. She didn't know what had happened to Taichi, Sora, Kimika, and Takeru when Phyrimon separated them. Maybe Taichi's chest somehow hurt when he got his power. Mimi gazed at the brown-haired boy with puzzlement.

Agumon's voice brought the group's attention to him. "We need to find a way to search for our friends."

"How?" expressed Mimi with anxiety. "This place is not familiar. How could we find them if we don't know where are we?" She didn't mean to be cynical, but it was true. They were hopelessly lost.

Biyomon volunteered, "I will fly up there and take a look over the forest." She flapped her wings and soared up through an opening in the tall trees.

Mimi watched the pink parrot disappearing in the sky, and then sat down on the leaves. She became depressed; she began to lose hope that they would ever find their friends again. She was overjoyed to see them back together, but thanks to that creepy Digimon, Myotismon, they were separated once again. She wondered if the friends were supposed to be separated for a particular reason she wished to know.

She tucked her hands behind her knees, looking up at Sora as she spoke to the boys. "You guys, you have to promise us, don't try to use your powers. It might be too hazardous to risk your lives to use them. Promise us?"

Taichi again glanced to Jyou, who nodded once with a faint smile on his lips. Sighing, Taichi turned to Sora and agreed with her. Mimi saw Sora tightened her lips a bit. She didn't look satisfied at Taichi's hesitation, but she nodded, sealing the agreement.

Mimi gazed up and saw Biyomon hovering downward to the group. She landed by Sora and shrugged her wings regretfully. "The forest is everywhere. I couldn't see anything else, Sora."

Sora sighed regretfully and nodded understandingly. She seemed to ponder for a moment, looking anxious. Then Mimi saw Sora smiling with new hope. "We can use our Digivices."

Mimi made no move toward her Digivice on the shoulder strap of her pouch, since the rest already got a hold on their Digivices. Mimi watched her friends fidgeting with the Digivices, each kid with a different reaction to them. Jyou gazed at his Digivice with speculation, an arched eyebrow as he studied it. Taichi, the same old Taichi, frowned at his Digivice, grumbling under his breath. For a moment, Mimi thought she saw Taichi's red eyes blazed brighter, like a provoked campfire. Sora sighed, as always, as she checked her Digivice, her eyes growing sadder. Mimi guessed, by their reactions, that the Digivices weren't working.

Mimi was nearly startled by a strange nudge inside her body. She didn't understand, but somehow, she perceived a heartbeat unlike hers - actually four heartbeats, all different at their beats within her chest. They were not in her mind - she didn't imagine them up. The heartbeats were there for a purpose. It was like the heartbeats were tugging on her, urging her. She felt that the heartbeats came from far east, at her left.

She stood and faced east, cocking her head. She tried to listen to the four heartbeats with her psyche, not her ears. She felt her friends were watching her.

"What's the matter, Mimi?" she heard Jyou saying with light concern.

"I . . . sense something. I don't know what it is." Mimi closed her eyes, trying to focus on the four heartbeats. Somehow, she can recognize the heartbeats as easily she can recognize her own voice. The beats were very familiar. Three of the heartbeats seemed masculine while the other one was feminine. One was very young, cheerful and blithe, as the second one was very eager, beating the fastest. The third one was distinct, soft and loyal as the last one was gentle and sympathetic.

Mimi popped her eyes open in awe. "My goodness, I can feel them! I can feel our friends' essences!" Her friends were gaping at her in astonishment. Mimi suddenly was delighted and excited. "Oh! Could it be my power?"

"If so, it would be an awesome power," Sora said, grinning. Then she became concerned. "But, Mimi, you have to be careful."

"Oh, of course, Sora! I will be fine!" Ecstasy burst in her chest nearly drowning the beats of the four essences. Mimi was so excited to be able to find her friends. She began to run eastward, where the essences were, excitement blinding her senses except her new power. Suddenly, vines wrapped around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. Looking back, she saw that Palmon was using her Poison Ivy to hold on her. The others were unmoving.

"Calm down, Mimi," Sora said serenely, but firmly. She used her characteristic gesture - hands on hips, her eyes hooded. "We are not in a hurry. The others will be all right."

Mimi inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself down. "Right." But she was still thrilled, both about her power and capability to find her friends. Within her chest, she could feel the essences beating with a powerful life.

***

The group walked all afternoon, following Mimi with her trusting power. The essences were not getting close, so that would mean the friends were pretty far to them to find in one day. Mimi was so focused by the essences as she led her friends eastward. The reason she only can sense four essences, not eight, as she thoughts, was that she realized that the Digimon must have the same essence as their human partners. Yamato and Gabumon have the same loyal essence as Takeru and Patamon have the cheerful essence. Same thing for Kimika with Iyumon, and Koushiro with Tentomon. It was like that they share a heartbeat, living the same.

The three male essences were unchanged, but she noticed that the female essence, which she recognized as Kimika's, was altered into a deeper empathic and understanding heartbeat. She almost could see Kimika's essence in her mind; the image was the very exact as the Crest of Empathy's image - a rainbow with a spiral at an end. Only it had a single ray of light among the edges of the spiral. Mimi guessed that Kimika already found her power.

They stopped for the night, deciding to sleep for tomorrow. At that instant, Mimi sensed a fifth essence among the four essences, so strong that its beats drowned down the other beats. The fifth was not familiar, but it was masculine, and it seemed that it was sleeping. The essence was so tempting that Mimi couldn't stop thinking about it as she went to sleep. She slept for a short time. The essence kept her fully awake, and she wanted to find that essence.

Sitting up, Mimi stayed quiet, listening to the essence pulsating with a strange life. She wanted to find that essence, but she thought it was best to go alone. It would be easier for her, and faster, too. Palmon was peacefully sleeping near, and Mimi carefully stood up, not to wake her. All her friends were also snoozing near, weary from the walk. She tiptoed toward eastward, where she could feel the essence pulsating strongly. She was at the edge of the clearing when a voice stopped her.

"Where are you going, Mimi?" Jyou asked from behind her, his voice quiet.

Mimi forgot Jyou was keeping first watch. She turned around, hiding her hands behind her back, looking girlishly as she met the tall boy's gaze. His Digimon, Gomamon was laying near the fire, resting his head on his flippers, his pale golden-green eyes on them. The eyes of Jyou and Gomamon were remarkably the very same, wistful and observant.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep," Mimi nearly stammered under the wistful gaze. She stood straighter, smiling slightly. "I just want to be alone for a while, okay?"

Jyou smiled and nodded. "Be careful," he whispered before turned to walk to his Digimon. He had an amazing grace that seemed so like movements of water, silent and smooth. Staring at his almost beautiful walk, Mimi realized that she was blushing hotly at his effective voice and grace, and she quickly turned around, rubbing her cheeks. She ducked under the jungle and gazed back through branches to find Jyou talking with Gomamon.

It was absurd. She was acting all over again like a foolish, blushing girl. He'd never like a self-centered girl like her. She admitted she has a small crush on him, but she would never admit it out loud. She always liked to joke, tease to him, but inside, she was awkward, shy. Why, oh why was that he has a pleasant personality that she would do anything to make herself noticed?! It was so silly of her. Sighing, Mimi turned her thoughts from Jyou to the pulsating essence.

Stepping over low scrubs, Mimi followed the essence, its beats growing stronger by the minute. She won't allow herself getting too excited, and she kept her eagerness under control until she stepped in another sizable clearing. The essence was the strongest here. Puzzled, Mimi gazed around the clearing. Yes, the essence was here - she could feel it pulsating almost thunderous in her chest, like it was drumming in her ears. But no one was here. She walked right into the center, where the essence was - underground. Suddenly, Mimi sensed the essence yawning, like it was waking.

She stepped back, seeing a part of the ground falling apart, as if a plant struggling to grow. She was right. A gigantic plant sprouted from the ground, all wrapped with vast, silky leaves, growing higher and higher until its top nearly reached to the treetops. The plant began to blossom, peeling off leaves until it looked like it was wearing a robe made of those leaves. The plant had a head - a human-like face buried beneath a leafy hood. It opened its wide eyes, all deep green, unblinkingly. Mimi recognized that it must be a kind of Digimon.

The plant Digimon gazed down to the girl and beamed. His voice was pleased. "Hmm, I am honored to see a magnificent lady waking me." He bowed deeply, gracefully. "Greetings, Guide."

Mimi nearly giggled at his bow. "Oh, I'm not a guide or anything like that."

The Digimon drifted lower until he was a few feet taller than her. "But, oh, you are the Guide."

Mimi cocked her head. "Why am I?"

"Well, only the Guide can sense my essence, since I am nearly impossible to be found." A hand made entirely of vines reached out, one vine finger pointing to the crest on her chest, not touching. "Besides, you have the Crest of Sincerity."

Mimi looked down to her crest. The tag was polished brass with a green crest tucked under a glass screen. A small image of an outlined teardrop, with two circles of smaller sizes within, was carved on the crest. Simple yet symbolic. She fingered her crest and sighed. "Sometimes, I think I ain't worthy to the Crest of Sincerity."

The Digimon widened his eyes as wide as he could and clasped his vine hand over his chest in a show of shock. "By the roots of mine! The Guide, not worthy." He shook his head, not believing.

Mimi smiled at his actions. "What is your name, sir?"

The Digimon again drifted lower until his green eyes met her hazel eyes at her height. "Oh, you needn't call me sir. Vinamon is my name, your humble servant."

Mimi blinked. "Servant? You mean you will do anything I command?" Vinamon nodded. 

Inwardly, Mimi smiled sly. Imagine! A servant for life will do everything she says! She will definitely enjoy it. Then she remembered something. She remembered that she had tricked two Digimon - Otamamon and Gekomon - to serve her, lying to them that she would sing for them later. She remembered Taichi and Jyou risked their lives to find her, trying to get her back, but she rejected them, not believing their words. Then Sora came in her dream to remind how important she was to the kids and to her crest. 

Mimi sighed, shaking her head. "No, it's not right for you to be my servant."

Vinamon was puzzled. "Why?" 

"I have learned that thinking first about friends are more valuable than thinking only of myself. Caring and honesty are valuable."

Vinamon simply smiled. He curled around her, true to his name, careful not to touch her as if was too humbled to touch a highly honored lady. Mimi felt his essence warming her, filing her every fiber with affection. He spoke, "That's why I vowed to serve only the Guide of Sincerity." He turned to face eastward, cocking his head. "You are traveling with seven of your friends?"

Mimi nodded, then stopped. "How do you know?"

Vinamon grinned heartily. "I can hear the sincerity in your voice." He again gazed eastward. "You are trying to search for your other friends, the other Digidestined."

Mimi looked down, frowning. "Yeah, but the essence I was sensing is yours, not the others'. Some friend I am."

"And the Master and Reconciler are with you."

"Yes," Mimi looked up, nodding. "They are Tai and Joe."

Vinamon echoed her nod, quietly watching eastward. She thought she saw the slightest grimace passing over his plant-like face, but he smiled warmly. He uncurled from her, again standing before her. "Why won't you go and get your friends here? I believe I might have a way to aid you to search for your friends."

"You do?" Mimi beamed, clapping her hands together. "Oh, that is so great!"

"But it must be a secret between us." Mimi gazed at him perplexingly. She saw two rosy spots in each of Vinamon's cheeks, feeling a heavy meekness in his essence. He continued, "It's better if I'm not being mentioned to your friends. I am timid, you know."

"But do you promise to take us to our friends?" Mimi wanted to be sure.

Vinamon bowed his head. "I do promise. You have nothing to fear."

Mimi smiled with sweet satisfaction. "Sleep well, Vinamon."

"Farewell, Guide."

Mimi turned to leave the clearing. She could sense Vinamon's essence softening down until it seemed as far as the other four essences, but she knew he was near. She arrived to the campfire, still smiling, until she saw Jyou standing and walking toward her. She stopped in her tracks, unconsciously hiding her hands behind her back girlishly.

"Mimi, do you have any idea how long have you been gone?" Jyou demanded. He didn't sound angry, but he was sounding truly worried. His eyes were rich with concern, gazing down to her.

"Was I?" Mimi grinned bashfully at him. "I am sorry, Joe. I was pondering for a while that I didn't notice."

"I was really worried about you, Mimi," he said softly.

Mimi blinked in wonder at the tall boy. "You were?"

Jyou flickered his eyes away for a moment, seemed to hesitate before gazed back to her. Mimi couldn't sense his essence - it must be blocked, perhaps by his power. "What did you ponder about?"

Mimi fidgeted with her fingers before answered, "Oh, I think I might have a way to find our friends."

She felt the wistful eyes of the Reconciler, not Jyou, studying her, searching through her for truth that she felt shivers running up her back. It was not unpleasant. Jyou smiled warmly and touched her shoulder, giving her a caring pat. "Good night, Mimi," he whispered in her ear before he went to sit by the fire with a sleeping Gomamon.

Mimi blushed deeply, murmuring, "You, too, Joe." She hasted to her sleeping Palmon's side and went back to sleep. Jyou's calm touch on her shoulder was still there when she drifted into sleep.

***

The group kept walking all morning, following Mimi, trusting her power. Mimi weren't used to being a leader, but she found it pleasing and helpful. Perhaps it was why she called the Guide. She does enjoy guiding people. Not actually leading, but simply showing the way. She can sense the distinct four essences, softly pulsating within her chest, along with the intense essence, beating strongly. Mimi could sense Vinamon moving near somewhere, leading her toward her missing friends. He kept in the shadows from the rest, very shy, she could tell from his essence. She and her friends walked in silence until they stopped by a faint rustling at their far left.

"What was that?" Taichi cautioned, instinctively stepping in front of Sora in order to protect her. Sora looked slightly alarmed, shifting closer to him. Jyou also stepped in front of Mimi, a cautious push on her arm to move her back.

Mimi smiled reassuringly to her friends, moving around Jyou. "Don't worry. He is a friend." 

Jyou held on her arm, still pulling her behind him. "Who is this?"

The rustlings were getting closer, and soon, a Digimon in leafy robes sprouted from behind the trees' shadows, a faint smile touching his lip-less mouth. He kept a distance from the kids, still drifting near the shadows. "Greetings. My name is Vinamon."

"Are you following us?" Palmon said warily, her emerald eyes narrowed.

"No, I am not following you. I am leading you."

"Leading us?" Sora repeated, puzzled.

Vinamon nodded, smiling warmly toward Mimi. His essence warmed her again with affection. "The Guide came to me last night, and I offered my humble help to her and you all to find your other friends."

"Mimi?" Jyou gazed to Mimi with his dusky eyes. He seemed a bit bewildered and . . . hurt. He said softly, "You told me you were only pondering."

Mimi quickly answered, "Vinamon told me to keep himself as a secret. He is shy." She felt Vinamon shifting closer to her, drifting behind her, heavy modesty in his essence. Her friends watched her with puzzlement, watched Vinamon with distrust.

Agumon crossed his thick arms, his green eyes as hard as his human, Taichi's. "Are you really leading us, Vinamon? I thought Mimi is leading us."

"I am," Mimi said. "I sensed four essences in the east, the essences of our friends. They are so far. Vinamon is only helping me."

"How could you believe that he tells the truth?" Taichi said, his red eyes nearly blazing.

"I would not be a loyal servant to the Guide if I lie to her," Vinamon said humbly. Mimi sensed that he was hurt inside. "I would never lie to her." 

"It's not right," Palmon muttered, shaking her head. She turned to Mimi, looking unusually distrustful. "How could you know if he's not an evil Digimon who leads you the wrong way?"

Mimi felt deep shame growing in Vinamon's essence and looked up to him. He bowed his head, closing his eyes in humiliation. He appeared hunched, disgraced.

She felt anger bursting in her essence, and she whirled around to her friends, scowling. "Hey, buzz off! Vinamon is not harming you, but only helping you. How could you criticize him like that? You don't even know him. I thought you want to find our friends."

"We do, Mimi," Sora said gently.

"Then let Vinamon help!" Mimi's anger nearly stressed in her chest until she sensed her essence going red with fury. She struggled to keep it down. "I am the only one here who can find our friends. If you don't want Vinamon to help, then I won't help you, either. I will find our friends all by myself, with Vinamon's help, of course."

Mimi turned on her heel and stomped into the jungle. She felt Vinamon following after her, comfort warming his essence. She could hear Jyou's calls of her name. Although he sounded a bit sorrowful, she chose to ignore him. Even though she could feel a bit of the essences from her friends, they vanished beneath her wrath.

The other four essences that came from east barely floated over her wrath. She followed after them, muttering under her breath unpleasantly. Why would her own friends reject Vinamon's help? Who cares if he is a Digimon? Just because he is a Digimon, it didn't mean he have to be evil. He helped her searching for the others. He would never harm her or her friends. He said so.

Mimi suddenly stopped in her tracks. She couldn't sense the four essences anymore. They were vanished in an instant.

"What's wrong, Guide?" asked Vinamon, wavering near.

Mimi turned to him, now worried. "The essences are gone."

Vinamon seemed surprised and turned eastward, cocking his head to listen. A light frown passed over his face, and then his eyes narrowed. He turned to her, saying, "Perhaps we are too far to sense them."

Mimi wasn't sure. Perhaps she let her anger smother the beats of the essences. She took deep breaths, easing down her wrath, and tried again. Nothing. She suddenly felt weary, leaning against a tree.

Vinamon's essence was covered with concern as he gazed at her. "I think you need a rest. You might have used too much of your power."

Mimi slid down into a sitting position. Her hat fell back, hanging by its drawstring around her neck. She pulled her knees to her chest and tucked her hands behind her knees. She remembered she used this gesture often when she was depressed or tired. Vinamon drifted lower, as if was going to sit by her, but didn't.

Mimi glanced upward to him. "Do you think we will find them?"

Vinamon gently smiled. "You, Guide. Only you can find them."

"Only I can find them," Mimi quietly repeated. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the trunk, bringing her hazel eyes to the sky. "Maybe I shouldn't leave my friends. They would get lost without me."

"Are you thinking about them?" Mimi felt a light contempt in Vinamon's essence as he spoke. "They don't believe you."

Mimi eyed to Vinamon warily. "Are you trying to make me forget?"

Vinamon spoke back eloquently. "I am reminding you. After all your help to your friends, they rejected you." His green eyes were hooded. "Not very good friends, if you ask me."

Mimi grew sad. Vinamon didn't really know the truth. Her friends were very dear to her. They were really her first true friends, who saw the sincere, devout girl behind the self-centered, air-headed ditz. They were the ones who helped her discover herself, along with the help of Crest of Sincerity. She closed her eyes, tried not to shed tears.

She heard Vinamon saying, "Why won't you rest for a while? I will get some food for you. It's not good for the Guide to be fragile and feeble."

She felt Vinamon's essence fading as he left her in search for food. She felt utterly bare without Vinamon's essence and the four essences. She felt tired from using too much of her power, but most of all, she felt greatly empty. Even though she was popular, well known back home, now she never felt so lonely. She was lonely without her friends. She missed every one of them, missed their support, encouragement, and love.

As quick as her heart beat, three new essences pulsated within her chest. She opened her eyes, sitting up, silently listening to them. They were not the four essences she was following after, but they were familiar. They were the essences of Taichi, Jyou, and Sora. They were grieved, sorrowed.

"Why is my power guiding me to them?" Mimi murmured, mystified. She stood up and headed westward, toward her friends. The essences were unwavering, and she was able to follow them without any trouble. It took her only a few moments, and she stopped just before the edge of a clearing. She could hear a humming of a small stream, and also sensed the three essences nearly, richly saddened, with a bit of bitter rage.

Mimi still felt guilty about leaving her friends, and she knelt by several bushes, hiding herself. Peeking through the bush branches, Mimi saw her friends sitting by the stream, gazing at Vinamon, who looked regretful. Mimi was perplexed, since she could not sense his essence. _And what is Vinamon doing with them? _

Jyou was standing, shaking his head violently, arms crossed. "I couldn't believe this."

"Who knows she is like that?" murmured Sora, her amber eyes lowered to the ground.

"But she is not like that!" Palmon exclaimed, looking almost fiercely, her emerald eyes glaring around at the friends.

"Who knows, Palmon?" said Biyomon by her side. Her sapphire eyes were as soft as her partner's. "Even you know that. You are bonded to her."

Palmon lost her fierce expression, her eyes going troubled. "Yeah, but . . ." She lowered her head.

Taichi was surprisingly sad, also sitting by Sora. His fire eyes were like dying ashes with a little life in them. "Mimi, lying to us."

Mimi was startled. _Just what was going here? She didn't lie about anything to her friends. Looking up, Mimi saw Vinamon nodding in agreement to her friends. Her hazel eyes narrowed in doubt. What was Vinamon telling them about me? _

Vinamon's voice was rich with regret. "I tried to tell her that friends come first, but she won't listen. She only cares about herself.

Mimi frowned in confusion.

Jyou glared heedfully at the Digimon with his dusky eyes, arms still crossed firmly, looking every inch as the Reconciler. "Where is she? Why did you leave her?" Mimi's heart warmed at the boy's defense for her.

Vinamon bowed his head, looking saddened. "She doesn't want me to help her. She ordered me to leave."

_This's going too far! Mimi stood, making loud rustling sounds as she stepped out of the bushes. "I didn't order you to leave!" Her friends looked up at the sounds, and their eyes suddenly clouded with some emotion, Mimi couldn't tell what. Palmon averted her head away from her as Taichi, Agumon, Sora, and Biyomon lowered their eyes, can't look up to her in some way. Jyou looked somehow enraged as Gomamon glanced at her warily._

Vinamon shrugged, his eyes hooded. "It's true, Guide. You left your friends, never think once about them."

"I do think about them!" Mimi yelled, and then fell in silence. Again, she felt her friends' essence fading from her chest like the others, as if they were rejecting her.

Vinamon shook his head. "You see? She is lying."

Sora stood, her sad amber eyes on Mimi. "Why, Mimi? Why did you lie to us?"

"I didn't lie to you!" Mimi didn't understand about this 'lying', but she knew she would never hurt one of her friends. They were all she had. "You have to believe me!"

Her friends stood, their eyes narrowed with disbelief and distrust. What did she do to lose them? Why is that happening? Urging to take them back, Mimi stepped forward. Suddenly, vines shot from the ground and wrapped around her ankles, binding her firmly to the ground. Mimi grunted as she struggled to pull her feet away.

"Come, friends. Let us leave her." she heard Vinamon saying. Mimi gazed up to see her friends turning away and walking by the stream, away from her. No one looked back, not even her bonded Digimon. Vinamon let them pass by him, and then he took up the back of the line. He did look back, however, as he drifted behind them. He had a scornful sneer on his face, his deep green eyes burning with venom.

"No! No!" Mimi cried out. He was going to hurt her friends! And she was helpless. She struggled to move, and fell down on her face, her ankles bound by unbreakable vines. She sat up, pulling on vines, ignoring the small thorns biting through her peach-colored gloves into her smooth skin. She looked back. Vinamon stopped moving, and he was raising his hand, which were now five trembling vines. He was going to strike them! Mimi strained to pull free from the vines, and then remembered she had a pocketknife in her bag. She took it out and sliced through the vines. Once free, Mimi turned around.

"Look out!" she screamed as she began to run after the group. Involuntarily, Mimi threw the pocketknife, the blade out, toward Vinamon. The knife impaled in his back, through the plant skin and flesh.

Vinamon screeched in sudden pain, his vine hands clawing at his back. Her friends turned in an instant, shocked at what happened. Mimi's mind was on nothing but her friends' safety. All she wanted was to take them somewhere safe from that lying Digimon. She ran past Vinamon, not seeing his recovery.

Suddenly, vines slapped right on her right side, sending shreds of stinging pain through her body. A vine also smacked across her face, receiving a red-hot slice of ache. The vines hit her so sudden that she fell right to the ground, clutching her side, groaning softly. She heard the yells of her friends, running footsteps, and gentle touches on her. She sensed the three essences coming back, pulsating heavily with concern.

"Don't believe her, friends!" Vinamon hissed, hovering highly, looking menacingly. "She is using you!"

Mimi sat up with the support of Jyou. The pain was hurting so agonizingly that she had difficulty to breathe. But she glared back with outrage at the Digimon. "Liar! I shouldn't have believed you!"

Vinamon was now calm, gazing back to her with taunting disdain. Several dense vines sprouted in front of him, wavering with threatening peril. Vinamon sneered. "Well, Guide, you have failed your friends. You are worthless to your crest!"

"No!" Mimi snapped. She struggled to stand steadily, along with the help of Jyou, his arm around her waist. She heard her friends' Digimon growling, preparing to digivolve in order to attack Vinamon. She held them back with a gesture of her hand. Her energy was swiftly draining. She didn't understand how, but she knew she has to do something. She silently glared at Vinamon.

Slowly, placidly, a soft, humble aura of pale green glowed from her crest, and soon, it surrounded her. It silently waved away from her body, like a silky cloak flapping by a breeze. Her essence warmed every inch of her soul, but she was losing her strength rapidly. She had to act fast.

Vinamon growled faintly, his eyes blazing at her unexpected power. "You are guiding your friends not to each other, but to doom!" The vines curled perilously, and they lurched after the friends with alarmingly speed.

_Essence of Earth, Mimi silently guided her power. A portion of the green aura jumped from her to the approaching vines, surrounding them. The vines suddenly trembled, as if were struggling off an unforeseen force, then lurched backward toward Vinamon. Vinamon shrieked as the vines bundled around him from roots to head, binding him around until none of any evidence of the Digimon peeked through the thick vines. The pile of tangled vines hanged in deathly silence._

The green aura dissolved. Her strength gone, Mimi collapsed in Jyou's arms, her mind going black.

***

The three essences were near when she woke. Laying still, she listened to them. Two of them were faint, passive, so that would mean Taichi and Sora were sleeping. The balanced essence of Jyou was beating softly; he was awake. It must be night. How long have she been out? She opened her eyes, and saw that she was right. White, dim stars tinkled down to her from several openings between treetops. She lolled her head to one side and saw Palmon dozing near, looking quiet and genially.

Mimi sat up, scanning around. They were at the stream, but no tangled vines were near. Her friends were snoozing near, also looking peacefully. Jyou and Gomamon were gone, somewhere near. She can feel the essence they were sharing. Mimi had to see what happened to her since she found her power. Did she change, like the others?

Mimi stood noiselessly, careful not to disturb Palmon. She tiptoed over to the stream and knelt by the bank. She looked down to her reflection. Yes, she was changed, but barely. She had a faint red graze across her right cheek where Vinamon slapped her. Not worse, as she thought. And, just like Taichi and Jyou, she had a thin, long tress of pale green among her honey-colored hair. Surprisingly, the green tress mingled nicely with her hair. She stared down to her reflection for a while, and then she sensed Jyou's essence coming closer, intense. She didn't look up when Jyou knelt by her.

"How do you feel?" he said softly, as soft as his voice can get. He was calm, as he already knew her fate.

However, Mimi was very confused about herself. Finding her power was not that amazed as she thought it would be. She shook her head in answer at Jyou's question. "I don't know."

"Different?" Mimi nodded slowly. "Look behind you, Mimi."

Mimi gazed at him warily, wondering if he was joking. Jyou gently smiled, his eyes wistful. He gestured to behind her with a jerk of his head.

Mimi turned around and gaped. A long, extended path of tiny white and golden blossoms stretched from her spot by Palmon to where she was now kneeling. In her essence, she knew she made it. She can make plants grow, like she was the sun and water. "I did that?" she asked Jyou, who nodded. "It's a strange power."

"And it's all yours, Mimi."

Is that why she was called the Guide? Silently, she pressed an index finger on the ground and removed it. In its wake, a bloom sprouted, following her finger. It was not yet blossoming; its simple, soft pink petals were still budded. It was sleeping.

Mimi smiled. _I am the Guide._

To be continued . . .


	5. Awareness of Lightning

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. If I do, I will make Izzy the main Character. *ducks* Criticism will be treasured and flames will pity themselves for being flames.~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part Five: Awareness of Lightning

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*

Koushiro cupped his hands and dunked them in the stream. He drank deeply, welcoming the cool, refreshing water in his dry throat. His Digimon companion, Tentomon, lowered his head so he could drink straight from the water. Koushiro took another drink and sat up, wiping his mouth. He watched Takeru wading in the stream, finding the delight of hunting for fishes. Patamon hovered near, often giggling whenever Takeru made a mistake to catch fishes; he often splashed himself, losing his grip on a slick fish.

The group was finally out of the underground cave. They don't know how long have they been underground, and they walked for only a short time when the sky began to dim. They chose a stream for a place to rest. Koushiro looked behind him. He saw Yamato sitting on a stone, his chin on his hands, looking solemn. His grey-blue eyes were rueful. His Digimon, Gabumon sat by him, usually quiet. Koushiro sighed. Yamato had been like that since Kimika found her power.  
  
Koushiro's black eyes gazed over to the girl, who sat far from the group, sitting cross-legged, unusually quiet. Her new eyes, the eyes of snow white, staring out into the distance, seemed to watch for something only she knows. Her power changed her. Before, she was companionable, easy to talk with, but now she was silent, reflective.

Koushiro was very curious about her. He often wondered why she had to be changed like that. It seemed unnatural to have that white eyes and the golden-yellow braid. He stood up and strolled to Kimika, Tentomon following behind. Koushiro moved quietly, careful not to disturb her. She might be upset if she was disturbed from her thoughts. However, Kimika did hear him. She gazed up with her white eyes. _She seems so blind, thought Koushiro, __yet she can see me. The eyes didn't distract Koushiro, but increased his rate of curiosity. He sat by her right side; Kimika's Digimon, Iyumon laid by her other side, looking not rueful, but kind of amazed with deep admiration._

"How do you feel, Kim?" Koushiro asked.

Kimika's eyes once again unfocused in thought. "Kind of confused, now that I have this odd power." She gazed down to her hands, her white eyes seeming to flicker into a slight grey color, appearing perplexed. Koushiro's curiosity grew.

"I am very inquisitive about your abilities," said Koushiro. "Since Tai and Joe received similar abilities, I assure we might have easy access to them, too."

Kimika then gazed up to him, faintly smiling. "You want to know why, don't you?"

Koushiro grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Is that obvious?"

To his surprise, Kimika shook her head. "No. I can see it in your eyes."

Koushiro was puzzled for a moment, and then remembered. "Ah, I see. You are the Seer." Kimika became wistful, said nothing. "May I see your crest?" Koushiro thought Kimika might hesitate or refuse, but, without question, she putted off her crest over her head and handed it to Koushiro. He was gentle to handle it as he studied the pattern of the crest.

"What is the point of having a crest, Izzy?" He heard Yamato saying from behind. Koushiro looked back, and Yamato was striding toward with Gabumon. He looked kind of edgy, his lips tightened. It was not a surprise. He was always stern. Takeru was running up to his brother, his fish hunt forgotten.

Koushiro answered the blond boy's question, "Well, as you might recall, Sora mentioned about the reasons why we possess these crests. I presume this crest can reveal an opening for Kimika's power to expose itself, like the crests did for Tai's and Joe's." His black eyes went to Kimika's crest, the rainbow image on the silver tag shadowed by his fingers. "It's interesting that the crest didn't change a bit." Then he looked up to her. "It might be a vessel to inside of you."

The group sat by them. Yamato sat by Kimika, not too close to be modest, still looking ruefully. Takeru sat in Kimika's lap, the only one who was not disturbed by her power. Kimika held him close to her, as if she does not want to let him go. Koushiro noticed that she had the look of sad longing. The Digimon crowded around Koushiro, taking a look at Kimika's crest.

"You are right, Izzy," said Gabumon by Koushiro's right side. "Her crest is the same as before."

"But it did change Kim," Patamon spoke from his position in Takeru's arms. "Remember when Kim got her power, her crest glowed?"

Iyumon sat up on her hind legs, looking thoughtfully. "Now when you mentioned it, I did remember. It did glow, but I didn't feel it at all. Before, it did give me the power to digivolve into Nightrianmon, but this time, I didn't feel it."

"So, it's one of the mysteries of Digiworld, huh, Izzy?" said Tentomon with a hint of eagerness in his voice.

"The mystery I want to unravel," said Koushiro, eager to learn more. "Kim, can you -"

"HEY! Give Kim some room!" Koushiro and the Digimon jolted in astonishment at Yamato's words. His eyes flashing, Yamato scowled severely with warning. "She is new to her power and needn't to be examined as some foreign animal."

Koushiro felt his cheeks going hot, and he lowered his eyes guiltily. He heard Kimika speaking calmly, "Matt, it's all right. I, for once, am curious, too." He looked up to see Yamato's scowl deepened, and he averted away to stare at the stream, his eyes unreadable. Kimika was quiet, her eyes on him, but turned to Koushiro with a restful smile. "Izzy, what do you want of me?"

Koushiro's eyes flickered to Kimika's crest and gave it back to her. "Matt is right. I should not push you too far." Still, his curiosity coaxed him, encouraged him. He glimpsed to Yamato before asked Kimika, "But if it's not any trouble, would you mind to call on your power? Just a bit?"

Kimika's smile widened. "I would not mind." She held up a fist and opened it. A hazy image of a small Digivice floated above the palm of her hand, lazily spinning in place before it vanished in a brief, tiny flash. "Did it satisfy your curiosity?"

Koushiro grinned enthusiastically. "It is hungrier now. Is it easier to be able to call on your power?" The girl answered with a nod. "Remarkable! It's possible that you will possess this power for a lifetime."

Yamato suddenly burst out his unexpected words with hot fury. "But why must the power affect her like that?!" He paused, realized what he had said. Koushiro and the rest gaped at him in surprise. Kimika was gazing at him, misery coloring her white eyes into a light blue hue. Yamato's face and eyes abruptly paled into shame. "I'm sorry, Kim, but . . ."

"I understand," Kimika whispered with empathy. _She now looked like the Seer, though Koushiro didn't remember how he knows. "I am not the same as before." Yamato gazed back with deep rue, and then hardened his face. He gave out a choked, strained grunt before he stood. He took off into the jungle, a worried Gabumon trailing after. Kimika exhaled faintly and turned to Koushiro with her sad eyes. "Izzy, for once, I wish I don't have that power, no matter how remarkable."_

Takeru was quiet during the whole time. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her warmly. He also had rue in his azure eyes. Her eyes closed, Kimika embraced him back, holding him so firmly that Koushiro got a hunch Kimika didn't want to let go at all for some reason. Iyumon also embraced her human friend with hidden compassion.

Gazing upon the girl, Koushiro pondered, his curiosity growing.

***

The group was sleeping by the stream, soothed by the humming of water. Takeru nestled near Kimika, seeking comfort and warmth, and Kimika gave him much more than that. Koushiro watched from his seat. Kimika acted kinda like a replacement for Yamato. Whenever Yamato was somewhere else, Kimika was present for Takeru as a big sister. Koushiro thought she was doing well at that. Yamato had come out of the forest, looking unusually woeful. Koushiro pretended not to pay attention to him while he worked at her laptop, but, out of his eyes, Koushiro saw Yamato standing near the boy and the girl, watching them in silent tenderness Koushiro never see before. He had heard faint rustling, then silence. When Koushiro looked up, he saw Yamato sleeping by Takeru's other side, Takeru in between Yamato and Kimika. Koushiro smiled.

Tentomon snoring lightly by his side, Koushiro tapped at his computer. He entered a folder that he kept the information of the eight crests. There was not much there, anyway. On one of the screens, he had images of the crests with their own colors and names.

"The crests have their own names," Koushiro talked to himself, pointing the crests out. "Courage, Reliability, Empathy, Sincerity, Knowledge, Friendship, Love, and Hope. Every of us have one of those crests that represents who we are. Already, the Crests of Courage, Friendship, Knowledge, Empathy and Love glowed to aid Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Iyumon, and Biyomon to digivolve into their ultimate forms. But now, the crests gave Tai, Joe, and Kim their hidden powers. Why?" Koushiro sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "I don't see the point to them."

Koushiro reached out his crest from his orange shirt. He liked the way the light reflected off the polished brass tag. The tiny screen protected the vivid blue-purple crest. Five circles - two within the largest one as another inside the last, linking together side by side – were set in the crest. The image of his Crest of Knowledge.

Koushiro's gaze tore from his crest to a sound. Tentomon yawned and gazed up to him. "What are you doing, Izzy?" he asked.

Koushiro sighed, letting go his crest. "I am trying to figure out the reasons to the hidden powers. I wonder if I would have such this power."

"Why, of course you do." Koushiro turned to his Digimon in surprise. Tentomon always showed his emotions through his bright green eyes, rather than through his face or mouth. His eyes seemed to smile. "You have the power of knowledge."

Koushiro smiled. "Yeah, but these powers are very different from the crests."

Tentomon cocked his head in slight puzzlement. "What do you mean, Izzy?"

Koushiro loved to explain things. "Well, Kim told me that when Tai attacked Phyrimon with his power, he used fire. I remembered Joe used his power, which is water, to defeat Aquenmon. Kim used, well, shadow to attack Arachnimon. It seems that the powers are connected to nature, not digital or machine-like, as I would expect."

Tentomon watched him for a while in silence. He appeared deeply puzzled, but smiled again. "I don't know, Izzy. But I am sure you will solve this. You have the knowledge." He settled down and went back to sleep.

Koushiro turned off his computer and shut it. For the first time, Koushiro was not certain he has the knowledge.

***

Again, the group explored through the jungle for their missing friends. They have no idea where they were since Myotismon sent them in the underground cave. They even tried to use their Digivices, which had aided them to find the friends since Taichi came back from the home world, but now, they refused to work for a particular reason. Yamato appeared upset about that; he had the determination in the group to find the friends. Kimika had the patience. She simply calmed Yamato down, and she took up the leadership. They boys and Digimon have trust in her as they followed her thought the jungle. They followed her until they stopped at strange ruins.

The ruins were an ivy-covered building, more like a temple or something. The stones were hued earth-brown with crawling green-blue vines all over. An entrance was opened wide, no doors, with stone steps leading upward to it. The steeple was rising so high that its tip seemed to touch the sky. On both left and right sides of the ruins, thick trees crawled so close that it seemed impossible to pass through. The Digimon went to check the areas to see if there was a path or trail.

"Is there another way around?" Yamato asked when the Digimon returned.

"No, we couldn't find any," answered Gabumon.

Kimika turned her eyes at Yamato. "We have to go through it. Please don't be so upset, Matt. I promise you no harm will come to us."

Yamato looked uncertain. Koushiro walked up to him, saying, "She is right, Matt. Besides, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. It would save us some time to go through that building than go around it."

Ignoring Yamato's tense eyes on him, Koushiro moved closer to see a better view of the ruins. A memory nagged at the back of his mind, seeming similar to the present. "That reminds me back when Mimi and I were stranded on a shred of File Island."

"Would the ruins be a maze?" wondered Takeru by Yamato's side.

Koushiro cocked his head in thought. "I don't know. Maybe if I would -" He stopped abruptly in mid sentence. He thought he saw something flashing on the perch above the entrance. He was not sure. It seemed something like writing or words, perhaps. He moved a bit and abruptly saw it. It flashed in a blue-purple hue, a bold word. It read, '_Warder.' Koushiro raised his thick red eyebrows in perplexity. Why would the word 'Warder' be above the entrance?_

"Izzy?"

Koushiro jumped, blinked, and gazed at the hovering Tentomon. "What?"

Tentomon said with usual weary suffering, "You were off in another world, again."

"Was I?" Koushiro looked around. Yamato, Takeru, and the Digimon were staring at him in puzzlement. Kimika was quietly gazing at him - was there a faint smile on her lips?, remarked Koushiro. Koushiro looked up to the entrance. The word was gone in an instant. His cheeks went hot. "Sorry about that."

Yamato putted his hands in his jeans pockets, looking serious. "You were saying that if you would do something . . . what?"

Koushiro shrugged. "I don't remember. It must slip out of my mind."

Yamato exhaled sharply. "The sooner we get out of here, the better." He turned to enter the ruins with Gabumon, Takeru, and Patamon. Kimika walked behind quietly with Iyumon. Koushiro stared hard at the entrance's perch, and when nothing happened, he went after his friends with Tentomon.

Inside, the ruins were mostly empty. There was nothing but a square chamber with a hall at the other side. It was dimly lightened by sunlight through old cracks above. There were also vines all over the walls, seemed to be a viny curtain. The group entered the hall, and Koushiro realized after a while, turning many corners, the ruins must be a kind of labyrinth. He hoped they would not get lost in it. The walls were decorated with bizarre, outlandish pictures and letters all over, peeking through the vines. Koushiro stared hard with curiosity at them, wondering.

"What odd writing," murmured Takeru as he scanned the pictures. "It's not polite to write on walls."

"The writing is up there for a reason," said Gabumon.

"Do you know, Izzy?" Iyumon asked from Kimika's side, looking back.

Koushiro simply shook his head.

Kimika gazed back with concern in her white eyes. "You seem quiet, Izzy. What's the matter?" She slowed her pace so she can walk back to Koushiro's side.

"I'm not certain," answered Koushiro. His black eyes went to the writing. "I try to understand the words, but they are so confused."

"Don't get too hard on yourself," Tentomon said.

Koushiro still felt disappointed. "I wish I know the answer. You know, I did encounter a familiar word outside, on the perch over the entrance. 'Warder,' it presented. That is it."

Takeru surprised Koushiro and the rest when he said with wonder, "Could this 'warder' be you, Izzy?"

His eyebrows arched in surprise, Koushiro pointed a finger at himself, looking a bit comical. "Me?" Then he scoffed. "Why would I be a warder? Warder of what?"

Takeru held up his hands, shrugging unknowingly, then turned to study the writing.

Koushiro gazed up to the writing for a while, then suddenly saw a yellowish-white glow among the outlines of the pictures and letters. It lasted for a brief time, but long enough for Koushiro to finally be certain that they are not hallucinations. But he noticed that the kids and Digimon didn't react at them at all. Not even Tentomon.

_No one saw it, but I did. Why? Koushiro thought with puzzlement._

They kept walking in silence, until Yamato slowed down into a stop. He gazed back to the friends, a lost expression on his face. "What are we doing here for?"

Koushiro stood in silence, then in bewilderment. "We are passing through the ruins so we can go search for our friends."

"Oh." Yamato shrugged, and then began to walk. Koushiro's bewilderment broadened.

As they walked, Kimika was playing with her sunglasses, looking deeply in thought. Then she dropped it, forgotten. Koushiro stopped to pick it up and ran up to her. "Hey, Kim. You dropped your sunglasses."

Kimika looked down at the red sunglasses and shook her head. "It's not mine. It must be yours."

"Huh? No, Kim, it is yours. You wear it all the time."

Kimika reluctantly took it, fidgeting with it, looking unusually confused. "Maybe it is yours," she said to Iyumon. She putted the sunglasses over Iyumon's red eyes. The Digimon appeared pleasant at this.

Koushiro stopped in his tracks, wondering why. Something was going wrong here. "Don't you remember anything happening now, guys?" he said to get their attention.

His friends stopped walking and gazed back to Koushiro with uncertain suspicion. "What do you mean?" said Patamon from his perch on Takeru's head.

"Don't you remember that we are supposed to find our friends?" Koushiro nearly went berserk.

He saw Yamato exchange sidelong glances with Kimika, and then said, "What's up with you, man? We are all here."

Koushiro's body nearly went limp, his black eyes clouding with incomprehension. He spoke faintly, "Remember the others? Tai, Sora, Joe, and Mimi?"

"What others?" asked Takeru with innocent confusion. "Who are they?"

Koushiro blinked his eyes in incredible disbelief. His friends don't remember anything about the others? What had happened? He gazed up to Tentomon, who also looked disbelieved. Koushiro and Tentomon might be the only ones who still remember. Koushiro suddenly felt light-headed, holding his head. He shut his eyes, holding back the dizziness. He heard footsteps coming closer, and he felt the supported arm of Kimika around his shoulders.

"Easy, Izzy," Kimika said with gentle compassion. "You press too much on yourself."

He kept his eyes closed. How can I relax when my friends are losing their memories? He thought. Kimika let go of him, and he opened his eyes. Kimika was whispering with Yamato, who responded with an arched eyebrow. Takeru was listening quietly, but his azure eyes were on Koushiro, looking attentive.

Koushiro flushed hotly and turned to keep his gaze on the odd pictures. For an instant, he saw a sudden, tiny flash among a picture of an A-shaped letter with a rugged line across it. He reached to touch it, but a small spark of lightning jumped from the letter to his finger. A sharp slice of pain stabbed in his finger.

"Ow!" Koushiro gasped, shaking his finger and sucking on it.

Tentomon hovered near, concern in his eyes. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Koushiro looked at his finger. It was not damaged. The pain was gone. "Nothing." He looked up to his friends to see if they saw what happened. Yamato and Kimika were talking together, concentration in their faces. Takeru's eyes were on them, looking boring. Koushiro shook his head in disbelief. "Tentomon, something is wrong with them, and I am going to find that problem."

Takeru was yawning, looking now tired. He tugged on his brother's green shirt to get his attention. "Can't we rest, Matt? I am tired."

Yamato nodded in agreement. "Okay. Take a break, guys." The rest sat down, already yawning. Koushiro was not tired at all; his curiosity urged him to find a solution to the problem with the losing memories. He turned to stare at the writing. He knew staring would not work, but it was better for him to concentrate than worry too much. Strangely, he rarely got upset, but his collected temper began to boil inside his chest.

Tentomon hovered lower so his head was at Koushiro's height. He spoke with anxiety, "You appear tense."

"Of course I am!" Koushiro nearly snapped. He sighed with anguish. "Don't you see that they forgetting about themselves? They don't remember the others, absolutely not at all."

"I do notice that," said Tentomon softly.

Koushiro clenched his teeth firmly; for the first time, he was a loss at ideas. "It must be something in the ruins that made them forget. I saw something flashing in those writing. That must be the reason."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Koushiro watched Tentomon glancing back to the kids, and then gazed back to him. He spoke gently, "Izzy, I think you should sleep. You are too tense."

_Now he thinks I am crazy. Koushiro stubbornly shook his head. He felt the gentle touch of his Digimon on his shoulder and heard the pleading voice. "Please, Izzy."_

He let his anger cool down from his chest and felt immediately exhausted. He glanced back and saw that his friends were already falling asleep. No sense to wake them. He slid down to a laying position and closed his eyes. Slumber took long to overtake him

***

_. . . Warder . . . Warder . . ._

_. . . You are . . . worthless to the Digidestined . . ._

_. . . Thirsty for your knowledge . . ._

_. . . Come, warder . . ._

"I am not the Warder!"

Koushiro popped his eyes open, sweating. What a bizarre dream! The words were few, but tauntingly enough to shake him. He laid still, staring up to the dark ceiling, trying to remember what happened. Then he heard the panicked call of his name. He blinked when the shocked face of Tentomon came in his vision.

"What's it, Tentomon?" he asked.

Tentomon's voice was quavering. "They are gone!"

Koushiro sat up, gazing around. The kids and Digimon were gone, but they left something behind. He found Yamato's silver-tinted harmonica, Kimika's small red backpack, and Takeru's favorite green-blue hat near him. Koushiro's worry and curiosity grew. "They left their possessions behind . . . What happened, Tentomon?"

"I don't know," said Tentomon. "I woke up to find them gone."

Koushiro gazed around harder, and then he saw faint footprints in the settled dust on the floor, leading from ahead of him. "They must go that way," Koushiro located, pointing at the footprints, "But why?"

Tentomon shook his head, tugging on Koushiro's sleeve. "No questions this time, Izzy! We must find them before it's too late!"

Koushiro nodded. He quickly putted Yamato's harmonica and Takeru's hat in Kimika's bag - it still contained her precious camera. He shoved it over his shoulder and ran after the footprints with Tentomon soaring ahead. The ruins were, as Koushiro believed, a maze, but the footprints led them the right way. He hoped. They turned a few corners before they stopped at a long gap in the middle of the hall. The footprints continued still from the far side.

Koushiro peeked downward and gulped at the deepness. Straightening up, he said, "How can I get across?"

Tentomon flapped his gossamer wings and held out his claws. "Here, hold on my claws."

Koushiro hesitated, biting on his lower lip. "Are you sure, Tentomon?"

"I am certain," Tentomon responded with confidence. His eyes seemed to smile. "Always."

Koushiro held a firm grip on his Digimon's claws. Tentomon flapped harder, and Koushiro felt his feet going off the ground. A bit shaky, Koushiro kept his eyes on Tentomon as he carried him across the gap. The moment he felt the firm ground under his feet, he let go. He beamed a thankful grin at the Digimon. "Thanks, Tento! Now let's go."

The duo ran down the hall, following the footprints, until they again stopped at a circular chamber with four different tunnels reaching out. The footprints abruptly stopped in the middle, as if the group decided to fly rather than walk. Koushiro knew it was impossible for them, except Patamon, to float, but now he was uncertain about the possibilities of Digiworld. He remembered Jyou saying anything is possible in Digiworld. In the ruins, everything was going wrong.

"Now what?" Tentomon mumbled.

Koushiro pondered for a while. "I think I have an idea." He reached in Kimika's backpack and got out the harmonica.

Tentomon cocked his head in wary confusion. "How can a harmonica help us find our friends?"

Koushiro awkwardly held the harmonica. "Matt would kill me if I try to play it, but it might be our only chance." Taking a deep breath, Koushiro blew into the harmonica. It came out terribly, piercing. Tentomon groaned softly at that. "Ouch." Trying again, Koushiro played the harmonica. He was terrible at playing music. The music was way off-key, screeching. Tentomon looked pretty suffered, covering his claws over his ears. Stopping, Koushiro waited for what he would expect.

As if answering back, Koushiro's music echoed back from three of the tunnels.

"Huh?" Tentomon remarked.

Koushiro grinned in triumph. "Just what I expected. The echoes mean that the three tunnels are dead ends. We go that way." He pointed at a tunnel at his near right. Together, Koushiro and Tentomon ran in the long tunnel. Koushiro now noticed the footprints of his friends, leading down from ahead. Soon, he will find his friends. Soon, they stopped at the entrance of a huge, damp-looking chamber. There were the odd writing on the walls, but Koushiro didn't care about them. He found his friends.

"Hey, you guys!" Koushiro ran to them. They were sitting cross-legged, facing each other, but he noticed they didn't react to his voice. They were unmoving, engrossed by something. Their faces were blank, expressionless. Their eyes were unfocused, staring out into the distance. Koushiro grew worried. "Wake up! Please!" He gently but firmly shook their shoulders, waved his hands before their eyes, and even pinched their arms. No responses. Koushiro sank to his knees, hopeless. "What can we do, Tentomon?"

"Maybe if you give them their possessions, maybe they could remember."

Tentomon's hopefulness gave Koushiro a new light. His face brightened. "Prodigious idea!" He putted down Kimika's bag and got out Yamato's harmonica. He went to kneel by the blond boy, placing the harmonica in his hands. To his shock, the harmonica slid out of Yamato's hands. Picking it up, Koushiro miserably looked right in Yamato's empty eyes. "Come on, Matt. You know you love playing the harmonica." He took one of Yamato's hands and putted the harmonica in his hands. When he let go, again the instrument slid out of his hands, carelessly.

His heart slowly clenching, Koushiro went to a quiet Kimika. He took out her advanced camera. He spoke softly, "Kim, remember your camera? You love taking pictures all the time, never going anywhere without the camera." Clasping on fading hope, he placed it in her hands. The camera settled in her lap, but she made no move. Koushiro quietly exhaled. "Your pictures are beautiful." He then took out Takeru's hat and putted it on the young boy's head. Takeru's azure eyes blinked not, looking empty. The kids' Digimon sat by their humans' sides, looking as hollow as them.

Koushiro sat down, his face twisted in anguish. He shook his head hopelessly. What had happened to his friends? "I don't understand, Tentomon. Nothing I can do helps them remember. I can't help them. I am useless!" His hands went into trembling fists, and his anger began to boil into his chest. He buried his face with his fists, stifling back an enraged cry. He never felt so helpless before. He remembered when he nearly drowned. It was an extremely disturbing experience. It was the same feeling, being helpless and lost.

He felt a comforted touch of Tentomon on his arm. Blinking back unwanted tears, Koushiro gazed at him. "Don't give up, Izzy," Tentomon said, deeply confident of him. "You can do it. I know you can."

Before he could respond, Koushiro heard a guttural growl filling the chamber. He scanned around quickly, and then glanced upward. He saw two glowing slanted eyes of deep red floating in the darkness above. "Who are you?" Koushiro declared with a bit of fierceness.

The eyes lowered downward until Koushiro saw that the eyes belonged to a Digimon. He was crawling on the walls, his claws clasping on the vines. He was upside down, his long, thick tail hanging over his head, swaying lazily. He had brown fur, with patched dark pants that came to below of his knees. Skin-like wings covered his arms and sides of his torso, giving him the appearance of a bat. He was sneering, revealing two rows of deathly-looking fangs.

"That's Thuntemon," explained Tentomon with some loathing. "I didn't know he lives in this ruin, but he is known by his way to 'gather' knowledge, unlike you, Izzy. He eats brains."

Koushiro suddenly felt queasy. His friends were losing their memories so that Digimon could eat their brains?! He's not going to let him do that! Standing up, Koushiro shook his fist at the bat Digimon. "Hey! Leave my friends alone!"

Thuntemon crawled to the floor, on both hands and feet. He made no move toward them, but his eyes seemed to grow hungrily. He spoke in a softly, screeching voice, "First, I want your knowledge, Warder. I can smell it far away from here. So delicious."

"Warder . . ." Suddenly, he remembered his dream. He remembered the flashing word of 'warder' outside. He began to shake his head in disbelief.

Thuntemon began to crawl around the kids and Digimon in a circle, making no move to attack. Tentomon hovered over Koushiro's head, softly growling in his throat. Thuntemon said, "You are the Warder of Knowledge who guards information and memories."

Koushiro moved so he could keep the circling Digimon in his vision. He inhaled sharply, uneasily. "Do you want to destroy me, just like the others?"

"Yessss," the Digimon hissed. "Each of you Digidestined must be destroyed."

"Why?"

Thuntemon paused in his tracks. "You should know that. You are the Warder." He tensed up, and his powerful legs pushed him up in the air, preparing to attack.

_Tentomon, digivolve into Kabuterimon!_

Lowering his shoulders, Kabuterimon rammed into Thuntemon's stomach, sending him out of the way. As his Digimon fought the bat Digimon, Koushiro turned to his friends, trying again to wake them. Shaking them, Koushiro pleaded, "Please! Wake up! We have to get out of here! Wake up! I won't let you forget! I won't!"

Then he heard a painful howl from behind him. Whirling around, he saw Kabuterimon screaming as Thuntemon clasped on his back, sinking his fangs in Kabuterimon's shelled shoulder. Red blood began to stain Thuntemon's fangs and Kabuterimon's shoulder.

"NO!" Koushiro screamed along with Kabuterimon. His chest began to glow with a vivid violet hue, and the glow surrounded him. The aura was deep purple, nearly as dark as his eyes, with tiny silver lightning bolts. A silver, rugged lightning bolt emitted from his hands and plunged at where Thuntemon bit Kabuterimon. The bat Digimon let of him when the bolt came in contact. He screamed in enraged pain, flapping his arm-wings. Kabuterimon fell to the floor, glowed for an instant, and de-digivolved into Tentomon, who held his bleeding shoulder. While Koushiro attacked Thuntemon, his aura blazed brighter until it touched the kids and Digimon, waking them from their trances. They gazed around in a daze.

His anger violently boiled into the point of explosion. He never was so raged at someone like that. He was angry because he was helpless. His aura blazing even brighter, Koushiro roared, "I wish I could do anything to help! I want to! I won't let you forget all about what had happened to us, forget all about our memories! I won't let you forget! I won't! _Awareness of Lightning!"_

Mad bolts of silver lightning charged all over from his body, forming an electric sphere around him. The bolts attacked Thuntemon from everywhere, giving him no place to escape. He screeched in pain. Koushiro let his anger get out of control, and the bolts explode in midair. The explosions were so powerful, immense that Koushiro was jostled back by the unexpected force. He flew backward and rolled across the floor, rapidly losing his power and strength.

He heard vague voices before he lost his awareness.

***

He was so weak when he regained his awareness. He found that he couldn't move. He had no strength to move his arms and legs. But he did feel movements of walking. He felt arms holding him up, one arm beneath his knees and another behind his back. He had his head rested on a shoulder, feeling the warmth on his cheek. He could feel heartbeats through his right side, and he assured that someone carried him.

He had just enough strength to open his eyes. Koushiro opened his eyes a crack and saw the head of Yamato above him, looking quiet. Yamato carried him. Yamato took a glance down to check on him, and seeing him awake, Yamato stopped walking, smiling gently. "Hey, Izzy."

Koushiro weakly looked around without moving his head. They were outside in the jungle, out of the ruins. Sunlight winked through branches above. He saw Tentomon hovering near Yamato, looking deeply relieved. Takeru was hitched on Kimika's back, both from ahead of Yamato. They looked back, relieved. "How do you feel?" Takeru asked from his hitch on Kimika, appearing concerned.

Koushiro tried to gather strength to speak, but all he could give out was a mumbled croak. His eyes fell droopy, suddenly exhausted.

Kimika smiled softly. "You don't need words to explain."

Koushiro's eyes scanned around, then gazed at his friends in wonder. Tentomon got the hint. "We are finally out of the ruins. You destroyed Thuntemon. With your power."

Koushiro's eyebrows arched a bit and raised his blackish-brown eyes to Yamato. Yamato nodded lightly, his grey-blue eyes full with new respect of him. "Yes, you have changed. Now, like Kim, you have a piece of violet hair in your red hair." His eyes flickered to where his new strand was, and he grinned. "Very attractive, if you ask me."

Koushiro smiled back weakly.

Kimika touched his cheek with her fingers, so tender and mild. Her voice was deeply sympathetic. "You must sleep now. Don't worry, Izzy. You will be all right."

Koushiro's eyelids drooped down, and he settled his cheek on Yamato's shoulder. He was so tired that he abruptly went to sleep. But the last words he remembered stuck to his mind, and they made him smile slightly even in his deep slumber.

_I am the Warder._

To be continued.


	6. Vigor of Spirit

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. All your Digimon are belonging to me. Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish. :p Criticism will be bowed to and flames will be . . . hmm . . . sacrificed to the God of Flames. If it exists. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga:

Part Six: Vigor of Spirit

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*

Yamato pushed away a low branch and ducked under it. He held it away for Takeru to pass through. His little brother grinned up to him with thanks and kept on walking. Patamon hovered after him. Gabumon passed through and waited by his side, as always. Yamato let go the branch and took up the end of the line so he could keep all of his friends in his vision. Kimika and Koushiro, along with their Digimon, were far ahead. Although he would not admit it out loud, he was extremely concerned about them.

He just couldn't believe it. Kimika and Koushiro finally found their powers, and he didn't like it at all. He still couldn't understand why they must change because of those strange powers. He missed Kimika's gentle brown eyes - now they were all white, giving him the uneasy feeling that she was actually blind, yet she can see everything. Koushiro didn't change that much as Kimika, but his eyes did. They didn't change color, but they seemed to be more aware and clear. Flawless. They seemed to hold everything known and everything yet to be known. Yamato and Takeru were the only ones who don't have that kind of power. Yet.

Yamato slowed down into a stop, tilting his head to one side. He heard something. A whispering voice. He gazed upward, trying to listen for the voice and trying to see where it came from. Without a thought, Yamato made a humming sound, a kind of habit he developed when he ponders for a while. His hums attracted his friends' attention.

"What's the matter?" he heard Gabumon saying, lightly worried.

Yamato's gaze turned to his friends. They were watching him, so many eyes. The sightless eyes of Kimika, the all-knowing eyes of Koushiro, and the innocent eyes of Takeru. Yamato felt his cheeks going hot; he was not used to all the attention. He was more solitude than companionable. He shook his head in a reassuring gesture. "Nothing. Just thinking." He gazed around the surroundings. The group was in a part of the jungle where it was difficult to walk through low branches and barren bushes. Not a good place to rest, but they have walked nonstop since morning without any rest. Yamato cleared his throat. "Guys, I think we should stop for a while."

Koushiro shook his head firmly. "No, Matt. We should keep going." 

"You are still weak, Izzy, from your power." He remembered when Koushiro found his power. He can't believe how weak he was. Koushiro never stirred from his deep stupor in Yamato's arms as the group left the ruins behind. He slept soundly all night, until he finally woke up the next morning. Yamato was surprised at how weak Koushiro was, but Koushiro had the determination to continue. He was often aided by the faithful Tentomon and Kimika, his strength slowly regaining. Koushiro's body may be weak, but his soul was not. His eyes were very vivid, almost shining with an inner light. Yamato watched Koushiro, who was leaning against a tree, looking exhausted.

Koushiro averted his sharp eyes away. "I am fine, Matt."

Yamato sighed faintly at the redhead's hurt dignity. "It's not just that. How could we know where to find our friends? We are totally lost."

Tentomon gazed at him from his usual side by Koushiro. "You say that there is absolutely no way to find them?"

Yamato shook his head. "I didn't mean by that, Tentomon. I mean, do we know where are we? If we don't know where we are, we would not know where the others are, either."

He saw Koushiro gazing over to Kimika, awareness in his eyes. Kimika had her hands together at her waist, and she looked soft and patient. She gazed to Yamato with the gentle eyes. "I can use my power to see," she offered.

"No, Kim. You can't," He made a negating gesture with his hand. "I don't want you to risk your life for that . . . power."

Kimika's eyes seemed to shade into a sad light blue hue. "It might be our only chance, Matt."

Yamato frowned, shaking his head. He didn't want to lose Kimika because of that. He stepped forward to her to settle down the argument, and then he stopped, alarmingly looking around. He suddenly heard soft mumbles from around him, so soft that he wondered if he was hearing things.

"What's wrong?" he heard Kimika saying. She walked to him, holding on his arm, looking concerned.

"Did you hear that?" he said, still gazing around.

"Hear what, Matt?" Iyumon asked.

Yamato looked to his friends. They were watching him, waiting. "I hear voices." The friends gazed around and cocked their heads to listen. Yamato still heard mumbles, too soft.

Koushiro shrugged. "I don't hear anything."

Yamato began to think he was getting crazy, hearing voices that no one else hears. Trying to ignore the mumbles, Yamato shrugged, "Maybe it's just me." He saw Kimika gazing to him, looking perceptive. It seemed to him that she was seeing thought his soul, knowing the truth. He simply smiled back, winking. He cherished it when Kimika blushed prettily.

Then he looked up at Patamon's voice, "It's getting dark. We need to find a shelter now."

Yamato noticed that the sky was darkening with several clouds gathering together. The clouds were turning deep grey, the sign of oncoming rain. The group walked on, following each other, just trusting their faith and instincts. Yamato kept Koushiro and Takeru in his vision, deeply concerned, and enjoyed Kimika's silent company as she stayed by his side. He noticed that the soft mumbles were getting louder, but not annoyed, anyway. They were almost like whispers and wails of numerous voices around him. They were not displeased and he grew curious about the voices.

He noticed his friends stopped walking after a while, their eyes on a point in far left of them. Yamato turned to see and saw a massive, ominous-looking mansion standing in a larger grove of shadowing trees. The mansion was hued deep midnight blue, looked broke-down. The windows were uncovered with no glass to shelter inside. The mansion was so solitude and abandoned that Yamato wondered why was it standing alone, far from everything?

Gabumon seemed to think alike as Yamato. "What in the earth is that?"

"Maybe no one's there," said his brother, sounding hopefully. "We could use it as a shelter."

"No," Yamato said firmly, his eyes hard as he stared at the mansion. "I would rather stay outside."

Koushiro glanced over his shoulder to him. "What's the matter? It appears vacant. It's not hazardous, it seems."

Yamato averted his gaze downward from the mansion. He thought bitterly_, I don't like the look of it._

Suddenly, booms of thunders were heard. The friends gazed up to sudden flashes of lightning leaping among blackish-grey clouds. Raindrops fell from the clouds, showering down to the kids and Digimon. "Come on!" Iyumon ordered, and all ran after her toward the mansion. Yamato shielded the icy rain from his eyes with an arm as he and his friends stopped at the giant doors. Koushiro pushed them open, discovering them unlocked, and all entered. Koushiro and Yamato shut the doors and shook the cold water from their hair.

Yamato looked around his surroundings. The inside was a kind of lobby with two massive stairways curling upward to the second floor. There were two doors, one at his right and another from ahead of him. A narrow hall came out from his left, leading to somewhere. An unlighted chandelier hanged from the ceiling, silently unmoving, dust all over. There was a dim light coming from somewhere that he was not certain where. The place reminded him of similar haunted houses he often had seen in horror movies.

And he could hear the voices. Inside, they were clear, mumbling only few words, but enough to make him uneasy. _Give us your energy. Give us your energy. He gazed around in caution._

Takeru moved closer to him, holding on his hand. "Matt, I am scared."

Yamato was nervous, too, but he won't let his brother know. He gave him a comforted squeeze on his hand. "Stay by me, kiddo." He looked up at the open second floor from the stairways. He saw wide, formal paintings decorating the walls, nine in total. He wondered what were they. Looking down, he saw Koushiro and Tentomon walking by the first floor wall, searching thoughtfully. "What are you doing, Izzy?" he asked.

"Looking around," answered Koushiro, not even looking back.

Kimika was studying the paintings with curiosity. She grinned almost enchantingly at him, her white eyes shining as bright as - he used the term loosely - stars. "Are you curious, Matt?" she said, her eyes flickering up to the paintings.

Yamato was dumbfounded at her sudden divine radiance. He did what he thought he would never do - stammer. "Well - well, um . . . I . . ."

Kimika giggled joyfully. She held on his arm. "Come on, Matt. Let's look at some paintings." Yamato let Kimika hold his hand as she led him upstairs. The stairs groaned and creaked alarmingly under their sudden weight. He heard Takeru and the Digimon following behind. Yamato and Kimika stopped before a wide painting, its frame hued dark blue. Yamato stood gaping at it as Kimika spoke, "Why, Matt! It's you!"

_'It is me.' In the painting, a strikingly replica of Yamato in similar clothing was sitting in a brownish background, one leg up and an arm resting on the knee. The replica leaned on the other arm, long bangs of ash-blond hair shadowing his rare smiled face. The eyes were powerful grey-blue, seeming to stare right straight to the kids._

Yamato's eyes flickered to the painting by the Yamato painting's right. He pointed to it, saying to Kimika, "And that is you, too!"

In the silver-framed painting, Kimika's head was showed, her chin resting on her crossed arms, looking peaceful and gentle with the soft brown eyes. She was smiling, too. There were no red sunglasses, and tiny, long braids fell across her cheeks, giving the picture of Kimika a mysterious, intelligent way.

The rest arrived to them, also gaping at the painting. "It's all you humans," remarked Gabumon.

Surely enough, every kid was in the paintings. By Yamato's painting's other side, was the pale blue-framed painting of Jyou. He was leaning against a wall, hands in his khaki shorts pockets, an unusual gesture for the nervous boy. But Yamato remembered that Jyou found his power, and he was composed, just like the replica of a calmly smiling Jyou. By Kimika's painting's side, was the red-framed painting of Sora. Her head was showed, like Kimika, but her back was facing them. She was watching over her shoulder, her amber eyes hooded in a divinely, wise way. Her blue hat was not present, and her chestnut hair curled over her shoulders. The next painting was Takeru's. He was the only one who had his eyes upward. He was standing, hands together, looking like he was praying, looking so heavenly. His green-blue hat was gone, and the single lock of fair hair curled over his forehead, giving the innocent, angelic appearance. The frame was, Yamato noticed, hued bright golden, like it was polished nonstop.

At the other end of the nine painting, was the green-framed painting of Mimi. She knelt, her pink dress flowing around her. She was smiling radiantly, with hands together in her lap. She had no pink hat with her, and her golden-brown hair flowed around her shoulders. The next painting was of Koushiro. He looked ecstatic, his head leaned a bit to one side, his arms crossed. His grin was bright, eager. The frame was hued deep purple. And, the sun orange-framed painting belonged to Taichi. He was standing, fists on hips, feet apart, looking every inch as the determined, persistent boy Yamato remembered. He had his favorite goggles off, and his usual unkempt hair clouded his sharp eyes, but not shadowed him. He had the courageous grin.

Yamato felt the creeps running up his back. The painted kids were the exactly same as the real kids, with their characteristic features and distinctive traits. He wondered why or how did the Digimon know about the kids. Was it because of the so-called legends of the Digidestined? Why was Digidestined so well known that the Digimon chose to paint exact replicas of them?

Yamato and Kimika walked over to where Takeru was. The boy was staring at the last ninth painting between the paintings of Taichi and Takeru. The frame was muted pinkish. There was a face on it, but there was no way to tell if it was female or male. The paint was waterlogged, dripping over the face in a rain of colors, making it impossible to see the details.

"Wonder who this is?" Takeru asked when Yamato and Kimika arrived, his azure eyes curious.

Patamon spoke in wondering awe, "Would there be nine Digidestined, not eight?"

Yamato gazed at him in surprise, then turned to the painting, trying to see the details. "If so, I don't know who."

Then Koushiro's voice rang from the first floor, sounding excited. "Hey, guys! I found a fascinating room!"

The kids and Digimon ran downstairs. Yamato stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked back for a last gaze to his painting. The grey-blue eyes seemed to stare at him, and then something happened. The posed Yamato's faint smile abruptly changed into a devilishly sneer as the grey-blue eyes shifted into burning red. Yamato was startled and shook his head. Looking again, he saw the posed boy back to normal. _I'm dreaming things, he thought. Turning around, he ran downstairs. He heard clear voices from behind, hissing softly, The Guardian is here at last. Yamato didn't look back, running faster to the first floor. He entered the door between the two stairs._

It was a massive chamber, lightened by somewhere he can't find from above. The walls were hued dark blue, the same as the outside walls of the mansion. The group was gathered together, gazing around as Koushiro and Tentomon walked to the other side. And the room was empty.

Yamato gazed at the redhead with disbelieved puzzlement. "Izzy, you brought us to this 'fascinating room,' which is _empty?"_

Koushiro turned to grin at him. His eyes were suddenly shining, seeming the only source of light in the room. He silently gestured around with a sweep of his yellow-gloved hand.

Yamato didn't have the chance to take a good look around before. He saw the symbols of the kids' crests on the walls, two on each. The crests were painted with their own colors.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight," Takeru counted them out. "Eight crests." He then yawned, holding on Yamato's hand.

Tentomon also gestured to the floor. "Look under your feet."

Looking down, Yamato saw the crests' symbols, also engraved into the floor, seven of them set into a circle around one crest. His symbol was in between of the Crest of Empathy at its right and the Crest of Knowledge at the other. At the other side of Knowledge, was the Crest of Reliability. The next was the Crest of Sincerity. Next was the Crest of Love. Then the Crest of Courage was set in between Love and Empathy. In the center of the circle, was the Crest of Hope.

Koushiro was standing near his symbol, pointing down at the symbol of Hope. "See that the seven crests encircle one crest - Hope."

Yamato shrugged. "So?"

"So that the circle must has been set like this for a particular reason." Koushiro sat down, opening his green backpack that contained his yellow-white laptop.

Yamato watched him with an arched eyebrow. He heard Takeru yawning and looked down to him. His brother's eyes were drooping, looking weary. "Tired?" Takeru looked up and nodded. Yamato knelt down, saying, "Get on my back." Takeru climbed on his back, setting his cheek on his shoulder, his arms around his neck. Holding him up by legs, Yamato stood up easily under his brother's light weight. He watched Kimika kneeling by her symbol, her hand fingering the edges, looking thoughtfully. Iyumon sat by her side, studying the symbol.

Yamato listened to his Digimon as he asked Koushiro a question, "But, Izzy, there are eight crests symbols here, but nine pictures of the Digidestined upstairs. Why? What is that the ninth Digidestined not involved in this yet?"

"That's what are we trying to find out," answered Tentomon as his human friend tapped at his computer, h is sharp eyes concentrated.

Yamato looked down to his symbol on the floor. It looked exactly the same as his crest. A circle with two half-circles within, along with two curved points at both sides, was carved in the floor, its diameter approximately a couple of feet across. Holding up Takeru firmly on his back, Yamato reached to touch the symbol with his foot. The very moment the foot touched the edges, the symbol suddenly brightened with a dark blue light, its rays shining upwardly. Startled, Yamato withdrew his foot, and the glow quickly faded, leaving the symbol back to normal.

Yamato gazed to his sides to see if his friends saw it. Koushiro was so focused as he worked at his computer. Kimika kept studying her symbol with her hand. No one saw it. He looked down to Gabumon. The blue wolf was gazing back with anxious concern, perhaps wondering why he was startled. He didn't see the glow.

Yamato flushed and averted his eyes to something else. His gaze laid on the Crest of Hope in the center. It was surprisingly small, compared to the other crests. A small sun stood above a small pyramid. The appearance made it seem heavenly, angelic. Yamato wondered. He knew his brother was special in his way. Takeru was always generous, kind, and so pure. He had so much faith that he seemed to have his own light from inside, radiating from his pure azure eyes. His childish smile seemed to hold wisdom beyond his age. '_Takeru may be special,' thought Yamato, __'but he is still my brother.'_

Yamato looked over his shoulder to see Takeru peacefully sleeping, his cheek on his shoulder. The single lock of fair hair always fell over his eyes during sleep, so innocently. Yamato smiled warmly and lovably at his brother. Turning around, he found something unexpected. Kimika and Iyumon were gone.

"Kim?" Yamato was startled. Hysterically, he gazed around. "Where did you go? Kim!"

Koushiro looked up from his computer. "What's wrong?"

"Kim and Iyumon are gone!"

Koushiro gazed around. "She must have left the room earlier."

"Kim!" Holding up his brother on his back, Yamato ran out of the room with Gabumon by his side. He ran back so he could see upstairs from the first floor. He couldn't see anything else except the paintings of the Digidestined.

"What's like her to leave without letting us know?" Gabumon said, looking around.

Yamato shook his head, worried. "It's not like Kim." He gazed around and found that Koushiro was not with him as he thought so. "Izzy!" He ran inside the room.

"What?" Koushiro said. He was just putting on his green backpack.

Yamato grunted impatiently. "Come on! We must search for Kim and Iyumon!"

"But -"

"Your curiosity can wait!" Yamato snapped. Koushiro fell in silence, his aware eyes suddenly as sharp as ice. Yamato sighed. He didn't mean to snap at him. "Finding our friends is more important, okay? Let's go." He turned to get out of the room, and he heard the running footsteps of Koushiro following from behind.

The group went in the hall, which went underneath the ground. Yamato quickened his pace, anxious to find the girls. Koushiro ran behind, trying to get up to his pace. Gabumon, Patamon, and Tentomon followed.

"Matt, Kim will be fine," said Koushiro. "She can take care of herself."

Yamato ignored him, his lips tightened. All he wanted was finding Kimika completely safe and not harmed. They continued until they stopped at tall, wide doors at the end of the hall. Yamato made a furious grunt.

"Calm down, Matt," Koushiro tried to soothe him.

Yamato turned to him with such fury in his gray-blue eyes that they seemed to change into pure steel. Koushiro stared back in astonishment, along with the Digimon. Unable to say anything, Yamato knelt and let go of a sleepy Takeru to the floor. He went to the doors and pulled on the metal rings that acted as knobs. The doors won't budge at all. He then pushed on with all his strength. The doors won't move, either.

Yamato sighed, unconsciously slammed on one of the doors with a fist. He turned around, saying, "I guess we have to find -" He paused in mid sentence. Koushiro and Tentomon were gone.

"Izzy!" Yamato gasped. "Ok, guys! It's not funny! We are not here to play foolish games!"

As if was answering back, he heard a feminine voice, ravishing and tempting, laughing from everywhere. The laugh echoed in his ears. Then he suddenly felt a breezy draft touching his cheek, seeming seductive, playful. Yamato startled, holding his hand over his cheek.

"Matt?" Gabumon gazed up to his human friend with worry.

Yamato never felt so shaken before. He took a deep breath. "We need to find our friends and get the heck out of here." He hasted to his brother, kneeling. "TK, wake up! It is no time to sleep."

Takeru rubbed his sleepy eyes, sitting up. "But, Matt, I am so tired." He stifled back a yawn. "Can't we rest for a while?"

Yamato's grey-blue eyes stared right in Takeru's azure eyes, different colors for the eyes of brothers. "What got in you, TK? Our friends are gone, and we must find them."

Takeru blinked upward to Yamato with confusion. "Gone? What do you mean? They are here. Look." He held up a pointing finger toward to behind of Yamato.

Yamato whirled around. He saw the hazy images of Kimika, Koushiro, Iyumon, and Tentomon in the hall. Their backs were to him, walking away. "Kim! Izzy!" He stood and ran after them. "Come back!" Then he skidded into a stop. The kids and Digimon lazily faded into thin air, like ghosts.

A sudden thought came to him, and he turned around, afraid to know. Takeru and Patamon were gone. Unexpected, Yamato screamed in fear. "TK! TK!" Panicked, he ran to the doors, trying to open them as his Digimon called his brother and Digimon's names.

Then Yamato heard voices. They were laughing, giggling high-pitched, taunting. Yamato let go of the rings and cautiously gazed around. Where are those voices coming from?!

_. . . Guardian . . . Guardian . . ._

Yamato whirled around, nervous. It's too much for him. The voices were so aggravated and irksome. "Stop it! Stop it!" He slapped his hands over his ears, screaming to drown the awful voices. He stepped back, and suddenly, he fell backward through the open doors. He laid there in shocked silence. Gabumon ran to him, concerned. Then he heard laughing voices from behind him. Yamato hasted to his feet. Many floating misty physiques drifted in silence. They were too vague in detail to tell which ones were Digimon or humans. 

"What are they?" Gabumon murmured.

Yamato looked down to his Digimon. "Aren't they Digimon, Gabumon?"

Gabumon shook his head. "No, they aren't."

Yamato returned his gaze to the images. "Then they must be ghosts."

The ghosts seemed to stop drifting and slowly turned to face the duo. Their eyes were misty and lifeless. Their mouths were moving, and he could hear them. _Guardian . . . Guardian . . . Yamato began to shake in paranoid confusion. What do the ghosts want with him?! Yamato stepped back and was stopped by closed doors. They were locked inside! Yamato and Gabumon pounded on the doors. They won't open._

Yamato looked back and saw the ghosts drifting toward them, their misty hands outreached. And the voices kept coming, calling for him. He can't stand it! He screamed, slapping his hands over his ears, running away. He heard Gabumon calling his name, but all he wanted was getting away from the voices. He ran blindly, unaware he was running down a narrow stairway.

The voices grew louder, taunting and calling, until they were ringing shrilly in his ears. He dropped to his knees, hunched over, trying to resist the voices. He felt the concerned, comforted touches of Gabumon on his arms. He shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head to defy the voices.

"Why, how nice of you to bow to me, Guardian."

The voices abruptly stopped, and Yamato popped his eyes open. Where was that voice coming from? He gazed around and found himself in some empty chamber. To his shock, he found his friends in the center.

"Guys?" Yamato stood and ran to him. To his confusion, His friends were sleeping. They were in a row, eyes closed. Takeru laid in between Kimika and Koushiro, all breathing deeply and regularly. Yamato knelt and shook his little brother gently. "Wake up! Please!" He tried to shake Kimika and Koushiro, too, but they seemed to refuse to wake.

"It's like they have no energy," said Gabumon from the row of his sleeping Digimon friends.

Yamato looked up to him in perplexity. "No energy?"

"They were so kind to give me their energies."

Yamato startled at the feminine voice. It was the one who first laughed at him. He gazed around, demanding, "Who are you? Where are you?"

Then he saw a misty, white-robed female ghost drifting downward. She was as large as Garurumon, floating in mid air. He could see the details: crystal eyes set in a pale face, a robe covering her body, a lip-less smile at the boy.

"She is a Digimon," said Gabumon, creeping closer to Yamato in order to protect him.

The ghost Digimon slightly bowed her head. "I am Banshemon, and yes, I am a Digimon. The phantasm you seen earlier are nothing but mere energies passed on from useless bodies. You might call them ghosts."

Yamato stood, guarding his sleeping friends. "What is your right to take their energies?"

Banshemon hooded her crystal eyes. "I didn't take them. They gave them to me."

"How come?"

"Because you failed to guard them, Guardian."

Yamato scowled at the Digimon. His hands slowly clenched into tense fists. Banshemon saw what he did and simply smiled blankly. Her voice was taunting, however. "Face it, Guardian. You cannot fight me. The Guardian of Friendship never fights."

Yamato's scowl deepened, but he lowered his fists. "I may not fight, but I do protect. Is that why I am called the Guardian? I am supposed to protect my friends."

Banshemon shrugged. "But you didn't. You let your guard down and they came to me."

Yamato took a deep breath, trying to ease his anger. "Is there a way to get my friends' energies back?"

Banshemon remained silent.

"Let me fight her, Matt," growled Gabumon. "I will shake the energies out of her."

Banshemon chuckled lightly.

"No, Gabumon," Yamato said, his eyes on the ghost. Gabumon looked back in concerned puzzlement. Yamato shook his head at him. "You cannot fight her. I cannot fight her. But there must be a way to defeat her." He saw Banshemon smirking in amusement. "Well, Banshemon? Is there a way?"

Banshemon opened her crystal eyes, and they seemed hungry. "To give back your friends' energies, you have to give up yours. Your energy alone is immense, powerful. I want it."

Yamato gazed down to his sleeping friends. They looked so peaceful like that. Kimika looked almost pretty, all deep concern fading from her face. Koushiro's intelligence remained in his face even in sleep. Even Takeru looked innocent, peacefulness and harmony among his face. They were helpless like this, and it was up to him to protect them. He knew he was willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. Looking up to Banshemon, Yamato spoke calmly, "I will."

Gabumon whirled to him in alarm. "No, Matt!"

"I have to," he said quietly. He stood taller, braver. His grey-blue hardened into steel. "I will do everything to protect my friends, for their friendship means the most to me. The power they have over me is sweet and reverent. Without them, I would be lost. That's why I am the Guardian because I devoted to protect them, so they wouldn't lose themselves."

His crest began to glow with a night-blue dark color. The aura surrounded him, giving the appearance of a cloak of night around his body. The aura was misty, soft and silent. Yamato looked at his hand, smiling at the nightglow. Yamato returned his secretive grin to a now tense Banshemon and said, "No one will make me lose myself. I will protect them with all my heart and energy. You want my energy? Take it! _Vigor of Spirit!"_

Yamato let go his power. The aura radiated brighter until the chamber was illuminated with the misty, night-blue aura. He couldn't see anything because his power was blinding him. However, he could hear Banshemon screeching with a thousand voices screaming along. They came from everywhere. Yamato felt his energy draining from him in rapid speed, but he couldn't stop it. In the middle of his power, he collapsed to the floor, his energy gone.

***

He felt a soft draft on his cheek when he woke up. He must be outside somewhere. He fluttered open his eyes and saw that it was night. The sky was night-black with few stars twinkling dimly. How long have he been sleeping? Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see the dancing light of a small fire near. He lolled his head to one side, and his gaze met the sleeping face of Takeru. He was holding Patamon in his arms, huddled near Yamato. Gabumon snoozed at the little boy's other side. Nearby, Yamato could see Koushiro and Tentomon sleeping. Iyumon curled near Gabumon, her snout buried by her large paws.

Yamato smiled to see his friends safe, then was startled. He felt two sharp teeth in his mouth, seeming unnatural. He felt them with his tongue, startled to find them curled, not straight. He sat up, gazing for something to reflect off his face. He saw that the group was sleeping near a small pond. He silently stood and hasted to the pond. He looked at his reflection.

He was shocked at his changes. Somehow, he grew two small fangs in place of his front teeth, looking like a wolf. His grey-blue eyes were unchanged, but his pupils have shifted into slits, again looking like a wolf. For moment, he seemed to look like his Digimon, Gabumon. And also, he had a lock of snow-white hair among his blond hair, few bangs of white clouding over his wolf-like eyes. Yamato stared speechlessly at his reflection, and then he heard soft footsteps coming closer to him. He shut his mouth and eyes, turning away.

"Stay back, Kim," he said ashamedly. "I look horrible."

He felt the kneeling of Kimika by him. "Why would you look horrible, Matt?" Her voice was gentle.

Yamato shook his head. "You don't want to know." 

"I think that no matter what changes, you are still Matt. Tell me, when I got my power, am I changed?'

Yamato faintly smiled. He remembered her white eyes. She may be changed from outside, but she was still the same inside. "No. You are still Kim." Then he grew somber. "But I am really changed."

"Let me see." Yamato opened his eyes and gazed up to Kimika. She was not looking alarmed or frightened. She gently held his face in her hands, her thumbs touching his fangs. Her white eyes studied his eyes with slit pupils. She touched the white lock with two fingers. She looked so quiet and gentle.

Kimika let go of his face and smiled. "Well, Matt, you are changed." Yamato flushed lightly, beginning to look away, but Kimika stopped him, gently pushing his face to her. "But it didn't matter. You are still Matt, aren't you? You are still our Matt." She smiled almost lovingly, her eyes soft.

Yamato smiled back warmly, and he hugged her, a gesture he rarely used to anybody. He welcomed her compassion and warmth. She warmly embraced back. Then Yamato felt a cool breeze touching his cheek. Both looked up at the sudden breeze, watching it swaying the branches. Slowly, Yamato could feel something. He could feel three different spirits filling his body like warm drinks in his chests. He can recognize them. His power allowed him to sense spirits, and he felt the spirits of the other friends in a distance. They were coming closer. Soon, they will be back together.

Yamato secretively smiled. _I am the Guardian._

To be continued.


	7. Breath of Wind

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. I would make Sora loving Tai, not Matt! For the sake, where is the EVIDENCE? Man. Criticism will be blessed and flames will go to hell. Like they need more fire.~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part Seven: Breath of Wind

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*  
 

_. . . To follow the chain of clouds, . . ._

_. . . Beware the buzz of life's end . . ._

_. . . To halt the death of slumber, . . ._

_. . . Seek not the voice of mind . . ._

_. . . To cure them all, all you need, . . ._

_. . . Is a breath of wind . . ._

"Hey, sleepyhead!'

Sora opened one amber eye. The pink face of a grinning Biyomon filled her vision. She groaned and shut the eye. She turned to one side and tried to sleep. Suddenly, the impatient squeaks of her Digimon filled the air, pushing her away from the comforts of sleep. Sora mumbled and sat up, stretching her arms. She rubbed her sleepy eyes. Biyomon stood by her side, her sapphire eyes sparkling. Taichi was kneeling by her, grinning.

"About time," Taichi said. "I begin to think you would never wake."

Sora saw Jyou filling the dying fire with dirt, Gomamon and Agumon helping. Mimi was standing alone, her head tilting to one side, seeming to listen. Palmon sat by her, always patient. Sora saw that it was already morning, the sunlight winking through the swaying branches. "I slept that long?"

Taichi chuckled. His red eyes seemed to blaze with merriment. "You slept so heavily."

Sora smiled back sheepishly. "Sorry."

Taichi laughed heartily. Sora was surprised at him. Since he found his power, he was unusually quiet, seeming to be in thought often. But he was back to the same old Taichi. She let Taichi pull her up to her feet, and he turned to Jyou. Taichi and Jyou seemed to become close friends, an odd couple. _Perhaps it was because they were the first ones who found their powers, Sora thought._

Sora felt something cool touching the skin of her left wrist. Looking down to her wrist, Sora saw a thin, silvery bracelet made of tiny cloud-shaped beads, lined with a red hue.

_ . . . To follow the chain of clouds . . ._

Sora blinked her eyes. She can see the words clearly in her mind. And where did the bracelet come from? She tried to unclasp it, but it was fastened on. It had no hook or latch to open. Under her fingers, the bracelet felt cool and soft, like it was made of cloth, not metal. It was strange, however, because cloth didn't feel cool to the touch. She tried to pull on it, but somehow, the bracelet was too strong.

"OK! Let's go!" she heard Taichi calling. Sighing, she let go of the odd bracelet and went in pace with her friends.

As they walked through the jungle, Sora remembered what had happened as she gazed upon her friends. So far, she was the only one in the group who didn't find her power, or didn't have the power. She remembered when Mimi found her power. She noticed that Mimi was more . . . generous. She was more honest, benevolent, and attentive. It was not a surprise, however. Sora always knew that Mimi has those qualities in herself. She only need some help to find them, thanks to her Crest of Sincerity. Sora was kind of curious about what power would she have, but she felt that she would not want that kind of power. Look at what the powers have changed her friends. She wondered if they would be the same again.

Sora gazed up to study the clouds. She enjoyed looking at the sky, seeing how beautiful it was. But this time, she saw something unusual. She saw a long line of small, fluffy clouds drifting above. It appeared that the group was following them without knowing. Sora felt a cold shiver going up her back. She hugged herself, trying to comfort herself.

Soon, the group stopped at a wide, swift-looking river. There looked like no way to get across it. Sora stood alone, watching the currents as she heard Taichi asking Mimi, "Are you sure the others are out there at the other side?"

Mimi calmly nodded. "Yes, I can sense them."

Sora glanced at her with wonder. What was like to feel heartbeats inside? Mimi had told her about it, but she didn't yet grasp the feeling.

Jyou knelt by the river, carefully putting his hand in the river. Sora watched him. He seemed so focused, his calm dusky eyes watching the currents. It was like he was the one with the water. She saw a light shrug among his shoulders, and he stood in an amazing, graceful motion, just like water, shaking off water from his hand. His voice was a whisper, "Well, looks like we have to search for a way to get across."

"I will do it for you," offered Gomamon. He looked eager to get back in the water.

"Not alone," said Agumon from near.

The white Digimon's mischievous pale golden-green eyes met with the golden dinosaur's enthusiastic emerald eyes. "I can swim faster, better, and more graceful than you, Agumon."

Two rosy spots formed in Agumon's cheeks. "Don't start with me," he growled, but weakly. Sora faintly smiled. Everyone knows Agumon was a terrible swimmer, and Gomamon loved to tease him about it. Gomamon snickered.

Taichi also smiled, but then grew serious. "Agumon is right, though. We have to split up in four so we can search both upstream and downstream. Mimi, stay with Sora. I will take Joe." He turned to walk upstream.

Sora ran to him, holding on his arm. Taichi looked back with his strikingly eyes of fire. "How can we find each other?" she asked, anxious.

Taichi smiled promisingly, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Sora. Mimi can find us with her power, remember? Gomamon can swim up to you faster than we can. We will be fine." Then his eyes seemed to soften. He sounded worried. "Are you all right?"

Sora didn't realize she was looking too distressed. She managed to grin, however, weakly. "Just fine. Be careful, guys."

Taichi seemed to hesitate, gazing at her in concern, then smiled. He went with Jyou, along with their Digimon, walking upstream. Sora watched them, then looked up to the sky. Somehow, the line of clouds followed the boys, silently drifting. Sora felt again the shiver running up her arms, and she rubbed them. She couldn't help shaking off the feeling that something will go bad soon.

She felt a sudden touch on her arm. Sora startled, nearly jumping. Mimi was also startled, but at her reaction. Sora forced herself to calm down. How came she got so nervous? "Yeah, Mimi?"

"Should we go now?"

Sora suddenly shook her head. She glanced back to where the boys have disappeared in the jungle, and said to Mimi, "Can we rest? I don't feel really good." She sat down on the grass, holding her knees to her chest. The rest gazed at her, concerned. 

Mimi sat by her. "Are you sure you are okay?" she said, cocking her head. She is listening to my essence, thought Sora.

Sora hugged her legs, closing her eyes. She was not sure about herself. Everything was going strangely. _The powers, the bracelet, her dream. She didn't understand about her dream. Somehow, it was warning her for some reason. Shaking her head to forget it, Sora tried to change the subject. Sora looked to Mimi, asking, "Can you tell me about the others? How are they?"_

Mimi turned to face the river, where she said the others was coming from the other side. She listened for a while, and smiled to her. "Izzy and Matt found their powers."

Sora's thin chestnut eyebrows flew upward. "Already? My, this power search comes so fast. So only TK and I are the only one left to find our powers?"

Mimi answered with a nod. Sora hugged herself tighter, whispering, "Oh, man."

"What's the matter?" Biyomon asked, deeply concerned.

"I was thinking about what had happened to all of us. We are not the same as before. We are not normal."

Sora could hear a slight hurt in Mimi's voice, "We are still the same inside."

Sora reached to hold on Mimi's hand, squeezing remorsefully. "I know. I am sorry, Mimi. But I was thinking about us. If the powers and our physical appearances are permanent, what would happen if we come home? What would our friends think? Our families? People would think we are kind of . . . freaks."

Mimi smiled back. "Still, it does make us special."

Sora faintly smiled, her eyes lowered. "Yeah. Each of us is special in our own way." Then she looked up, gravely. "But why must this happen? I just don't see this connection between the powers, and the Digimon, legends of the Digidestined, or even the Digiworld itself. Why are we having these powers? There got to be a reason for all of this."

"You always want to find answers?" Mimi said.

"I always seek to find good reasons." Sometimes, Sora astonished herself. She often didn't realize she was that meditative. Many of her friends often said she was wise beyond her age.

Mimi chuckled heartily. "You begin to sound like Izzy."

Sora's amber eyes always grew sad, as if always knew the fate of her friends. "I miss them."

Mimi's hazel eyes changed into a confident glint. "I miss them, too. They miss us, too."

Sora sighed faintly. She really, really wanted to be back with her friends together, never will be separated ever again. She leaned back, bringing her eyes upward to the sky. Abruptly, she saw the line of clouds. They were drifting unmovable, now colored into a gloomy grey, with black lining. She grimaced.

"What's wrong?" said Mimi, seeing her grimace. Sora didn't answer, her eyes glued on the clouds. Mimi and the Digimon also gazed up to the clouds. Mimi made a humming sound. "What strange clouds. There must be some kind of weather pattern in Digiworld that we don't know."

Sora didn't hear what she was saying. Something was distracting her. A low sound, like a buzzing, hummed from her left, seeming to come from the jungle. It seemed that she could feel the buzzing sound from inside, either urging or warning her. Sora suddenly heard the words from her dream. 

_. . . Beware the buzz of life's end . . ._

"What in the world?" muttered Biyomon, her face twisted with ire.

Sora whirled to her. "Do you hear it, Biyomon? The buzzing?"

The pink Digimon nodded. "Yes. What's it?"

Then Sora gazed to Mimi, who gasped in shock, holding her chest. A lost expression was on her pretty face. "Mimi?" she tried to soothe her.

Mimi shook her groggy head, blinking her eyes. Sora noticed that Mimi kept touching on her chest, as if she was trying to get a grab from inside. Her hazel eyes looked up to her, looking worried. "Something is wrong with Tai and Joe. Their essences are very faint, but they are not far. They are weak."

"You mean something happened to them?" Sora's heart suddenly clenched. It always seemed to clench with pain whenever one of her friends was hurt. She never liked to see them hurt.

Mimi nodded. "Yes, but I cannot sense any pain in the essences. They are not hurt."

Sora stood up, pulling her friend to her feet. "It didn't matter. We must find them. Guide us, Mimi."

Mimi seemed to startle when she mentioned 'guide'. Sora remembered that she was called the Guide, and she was definitely important to the Digiworld. Mimi guided Sora, Biyomon, and Palmon through the jungle, walking by the riverbank. Sora didn't see any footsteps, but she trusted Mimi to find the boys. Looking up to the sky, Sora suddenly felt uneasy when she wasn't sure if they were following the gloomy clouds or the clouds were following them.

Soon, Sora could see something under low branches. "Tai! Joe!" She ran past Mimi, skipping over high roots until she arrived at the boys. They were laying, unmoving. Taichi laid on his back, his head lolling to one side, one hand on his stomach. Agumon was laying on his side, his golden claws on the ground carelessly. Jyou laid on his stomach, his head also lolling to one side, his eyeglasses resting near his head. Gomamon was curled into a ball, looking exhaustedly. It seemed that they collapsed from where they stood, as if they suddenly lost their energies.

"Tai?" Sora knelt by the brown-haired boy. He was motionless, the red lock falling over his closed eyes. His chest was not moving. Alarmed, Sora looked up to see Mimi kneeling by Jyou, touching his cheek. Biyomon and Palmon also went to the Digimon, worried.

Mimi gazed back to Sora. "They are still alive, Sora," Mimi was sounding uncertain, but relieved that they were alive.

Then Sora heard a long, deep breath coming from Taichi. She looked down, but he was not breathing. She waited for a while, her amber eyes glued on his chest. Then his chest expanded, taking a deep breath, then releasing it, very slowly in motion. Still uncertain, Sora putted her ear on Taichi's chest, listening for a heartbeat. She waited, and then finally his heart pulsed. One, single heartbeat. Sora raised her head, confused. "That's strange. They are in a kind of stupor. They are sleeping." Then she shook her head in agony from the increasing buzzing. Where did that buzzing come from?!

"Sora, what's the matter?" she barely heard Mimi saying through the buzzing.

Biyomon also was agonized. Holding her head, Biyomon growled, "That buzzing! It's annoying!"

"What buzzing?" asked Palmon.

Sora looked up to the flower Digimon. "Don't you hear it?" She saw Mimi and Palmon shaking their heads. She gazed at them in surprise, and then the buzzing stopped abruptly. Sora slightly shook her dizzy head, as Biyomon exhaled in relief.

"Sora." Sora looked up to Mimi. She was pointing down to her left wrist. "What's this?" Sora glanced down to her wrist. She forgot all about the cloud bracelet. She was a loss at words. She blushed faintly, looking up to her friends. Mimi was looking precarious. "I saw it when you wore it. You never told it to us."

"I have no idea how I got it. I got it after the dream . . ." she stopped, remembering.

"What dream?" Palmon asked.

Sora tried to remember. "I have a dream what someone spoke a rhyme, a verse, or a poem, whatever it is. And it is coming true."

"What do you mean, Sora?" said Mimi.

"The first line is 'to follow the chain of clouds, beware the buzz of life's end.'" She pointed upward to the drifting line of clouds. "I saw this after I woke up. We followed it without knowing about it. When the boys went out for scouting, the clouds followed them instead. Then I heard that strange buzzing. Then we found the boys." Now Sora was confused. She didn't see the connection between the events. Mimi was watching her with deep bewilderment. Sora added, "I don't understand about this either."

However, she saw her Digimon looking over to Palmon, their sapphire and emerald eyes meting each other, looking serious and wistful. They seemed to know something.

Mimi's voice cut through her thoughts. "You said the first line. Are there other lines?"

Sora tried to remember. "_'To follow the chain of clouds, beware the buzz of life's end. To halt the death of slumber, seek not the voice of mind. To cure them all, all you need is a breath of wind.'"_

Mimi glanced down to the sleeping Jyou, seeming to think for a moment. "Do you think the poem is connected to them sleeping?"

Her amber eyes went to the sleeping Taichi. She nodded. "It might be. It is coming true. The chain of clouds, the buzzing, the slumber."

Mimi gazed up to her, anxiety in her face. "Is there a way to wake them?"

Biyomon shook her head. "You shouldn't wake them now."

Sora raised her eyes to her Digimon. There was serious severity in her sapphire eyes. "Why is that, Biyomon?"

Biyomon answered, "I recalled one Digimon named Nuskemon who attacked Digimon by putting them to sleep."

Palmon added, "And he eats lives. He needs energies to survive."

Sora's heart clenched. There was actually a Digimon like that? Mimi's hand went to her chest, her hazel eyes on Jyou, looking worried. Sora gazed right in Biyomon's eyes. "You tell me this Digimon is like a zombie?"

Palmon frowned in puzzlement. "Zombie? What's a zombie?" Biyomon blinked at Sora in confusion.

"Never mind." Mimi's eyes turned to her Digimon. "Is there a way to defeat him?"

Biyomon answered her, "To defeat him, you have to enter one of his victims' dreams. Nuskemon is never be seen from outside of Digimon's bodies."

"He's a parasite," Sora guessed. Biyomon answered in a nod. Sighing faintly, Sora gazed down to Taichi. He looked peaceful, with no troubles to appear on his boyish face. The red lock swayed gently in the faint breeze. It was hard to believe that an evil Digimon was eating his life, and he would die any moment.

Sora heard Mimi asking, "But why is Nuskemon attacking them? They are humans, not Digimon."

Palmon answered, "It appears that Nuskemon can attack humans as well as Digimon."

"I will do it," Sora said with confidence. "I will enter their dreams and defeat him."

Biyomon whirled to her, alarmed. "What? No!"

"I have to!" Sora's amber eyes were unusually hard, gazing sharply to her friends. "My dream warned me about this, and I ignored it. It's my responsibility to take them back."

Mimi's hazel eyes were concerned. "But, Sora, how can you enter the dream?"

Sora's gaze lowered to her wrist, where the cloud bracelet was clasped on. "I have to . . . follow the chain of clouds. I will sleep and focus my mind on it. It will lead me."

Biyomon looked really worried, her sapphire eyes touched with haunted agony. "Do you know what to do?"

Sora sighed, shaking her head. "No, but I will know when I get there." She laid down on her back by Taichi. 

"We will protect you all," said Mimi. Sora nodded. She had faith that her friends will protect them.

Biyomon sat by her head, her fanged wing touching her left wrist. Her voice was thick with misery. "Sora . . . be careful."

She was scared, too, but she must be brave. She smiled reassuringly at her lovable Digimon and closed her eyes. She focused her mind on the chain of clouds on her wrist. Her fingers fingered them, feeling the texture, solidity, and weight of the bracelet. All thoughts were except on the bracelet. She felt her breaths slowing down, and she slid into a blanket of darkness.

Sora opened her eyes. She was standing in a thick, grayish-tan fog. The fog felt damp, thick enough that she would feel the billows of clouds on her skin, slightly tickling. Was she in a dream or something? She was not sure. She didn't know where she was, lost in the strange fog. Then she heard a low buzzing from her far left. It was not annoying, but it sounded like it was calling for her.

Surprisingly, she felt odd warmth on her wrist. Looking down, she saw the cloud bracelet glowing with a faint red color. Suddenly, the buzzing also faded and appeared, buzzing in unison of the pulsating glow.

. . . To follow the chain of clouds, beware the buzz of life's end . . .

Sora grew cautious. She will not ignore the warnings. She must do something to save her friends. Inhaling in a confident breath, she broke into a run, following the chain of clouds, bewaring the buzzing. She kept running until she slowed down into a stop. The buzzing was loudest, and the glow was brightest, illuminating the surrounding fog with a red hue. Sora looked up to a sudden sound of a gust above. Suddenly, the gust whooshed past her, flapping on her clothes and hair. She held on her hat, the straps sweeping in the air.

"Hey!" Sora yelled. Within the fog, she could see a billowing part of the air, as if it was alive. The air shifted like it was in waves of heat or in gusts. She almost could see it was wind. Two beady eyes set in an airy face. The rest were too blurred to be detailed. It must be Nuskemon, Sora thought.

"Who are you?" His voice was airy, echoing, like it was coming from a deep pit.

"One of the Digidestined! I am here to stop you!" Sora's amber eyes seemed to melt into hot molten gold as she glared to him.

Nuskemon drifted above, floating on a gust of wind. Then he seemed to sneer, although she could not see his mouth. "Ah, the Seeker of Love. I long to meet you, Seeker." Sora startled at her new title, then stiffened up, her teeth clenched together. "And you said you will stop me?" Then a resounding laugh stirred in the fog, amused. "I cannot be stopped. No one cannot be stopped. Even if I can be stopped, how can you do it? You don't even know what to do."

Sora's eyes cooled down to amber. She has to be more cunning than him. "Tell me, what should the Seeker do?"

Nuskemon's airy eyes hooded. "Seek."

"Seek what?"

"Seek." Suddenly, Nuskemon soared toward her. Sora gasped and dropped to the floor, whatever it is, burying her head. Somehow, a sudden gust of wind whistled past her and pushed Nuskemon out of her way. She heard Nuskemon shrieking with outrage. "Blast it! How can you call on your power?! The legend is not supposed to come true now!"

Sora gazed up in bewilderment. "What are you talking about? What legend?"

Nuskemon seemed to stop drifting in the fog, appearing surprised. "The Seeker doesn't know?" Then he smirked with scheming delight. "I think I shall destroy you before you find out." Again, he prepared to attack her, but another gust blew past her and sent him flying backward. Nuskemon growled furiously, his eyes seeming to turn into white fog. Somehow, the dream was protecting her.

Sora knew what to do now. She stood up, grinning cunningly at the air Digimon. "Since you cannot be destroyed, then I cannot be destroyed, either."

Nuskemon smirked back. "But you can be defeated."

"So can you, Nuskemon."

Nuskemon seemed to lose the shrewdness in his eyes. He looked enraged, softly screeching like a shrill whistle in the wind. Sora crossed her arms, glaring back levelly. That was a side of Sora she never thought she has. She rarely gets mad, but the very thought of that Digimon hurting her friends like that made her want to box him in the face.

"So, why are you attacking my friends?" Her voice seemed to be carried by the thick fog.

Nuskemon cocked his head in thought. "The Master and the Reconciler?" He carelessly shrugged. "Nothing. I am just hungry."

Inside, Sora grimaced. She had a plan to get her friends back, but there was a dark side to it. She frightened to face it, but she had no other choice. "How about we have a deal?'

Nuskemon appeared a bit wary and startled. His eyes slightly narrowed. "What deal?"

Sora let her hands clench into fists. Please, let me have strength, she silently prayed, then returned her eyes to the Digimon. "The deal is that I will give up my life to you if you let the boys go."

Nuskemon snickered. He turned away, preparing to leave. "Why would I want your life?"

Sora made no move toward him, but she made her voice sharper, louder. "You said you long to meet me. You must have longed to have my life. Doesn't my life sound delicious than the others'?"

The Digimon stopped moving, waiting. He turned his head, his eyes clouded. "I can't resist a bargain. Are you sure that you will give up your life? No false death or anything?'

"Seeker's Honor." Sora glared hard to him. "If you have some honor, we will agree to the deal."

"Nuskemon's Honor." He began to drift closer to her, a delighted sneer on his face. Sora made no move, her insides shaking and clenching with fear. He reached to touch her cheek. Sora couldn't resist back a sudden shudder as she felt the icy-cold draft on her cheek. Nuskemon's sneer widened at her reaction. His foggy hand lowered to her chest, where her heart was thumping quickly. His hand slowly clenched as if he was going to hold on her life. She felt intense pain . . . 

Suddenly, a burst of cold wind gusted hard at them. Nuskemon withdrew his hand from her chest, holding up his hands to shield the gale. Sora groaned, clutching her chest, dropping to her knees. Everything went spinning in her vision . . . 

Sora woke up, gasping. "What-?"

In her vision, she saw Biyomon kneeling over her, tears of fright and relief streaming down her feathered face. "I am so sorry, Sora!" she was sobbing. "But you were in trouble, and I have to save you!"

"How-?" Sora pushed herself up by her elbows and gazed around. Mimi and Palmon were kneeling by Jyou and Gomamon, who were still sleeping silently. He eyes flew to the face of Taichi. He was sleeping, too. Sora made a mournful groan, almost a sob in her throat. "I was so close!"

"What did you do?" said Mimi.

Sora took a deep breath through her teeth. "I was going to give up my life to Nuskemon in exchange for their lives."

Biyomon gazed to her, alarm in her sapphire eyes. Palmon nearly gaped in shock, her emerald eyes wide. Mimi was looking disbelieved at her. "Sora!"

"It's the only way!"

Disbelief faded from Mimi's delicate face, replaced with . . . strong respect. "Sora . . ." she whispered in awe. "I have no idea you have such courage in yourself."

Sora lowered her eyes to Taichi's face. No, he was the one who has such courage. She had the love to do it. Her voice was soft. "Sometimes, you have to sacrifice yourself for the ones you love." Suddenly, she hunched over, clutching her chest. She suffered burning, severe pain pulsating in her chest. She weakly groaned. She felt arms around her, cradling her.

"Sora!" Mimi cried, holding her. "What happened?"

"The pain . . ."

In her blurred vision, she saw Biyomon, who, surprisingly, didn't experience her pain, glimpsing at her chest, and her eyes widened. She reached to pick something from her chest, saying, "Sora! Your crest!"

Sora looked down to her crest. The polished brass tag had a glass screen that protected the red crest. On the crest, a perfect heart with a circle within its right side was engraved. But she noticed something wrong with it. The heart was cracked into two halves, few outlines of drops of blood dripping from the crack. "What happened?"

"You gave up half of your life to me," came a familiar voice.

All looked up in alarm. Nuskemon drifted above. Sora could see him more clearly. He seemed to clothe in a robe of blackish-grey clouds, mist billowing around him. Two eyes of pure crystal sparkled in the mist, glowing with amusement. Biyomon and Palmon abruptly got into a shielding line, their eyes blazing distrustfully at the Digimon. However, Nuskemon paid attention only to Sora.

He spoke, "Because of your half-life, I can now live outside Digimon's bodies. I can go anywhere I want. What a pleasant half-life for me."

Mimi held Sora close to her, her hazel eyes darkening. "I can sense Sora's essence in you."

Nuskemon's eyes glanced to Mimi. "Yes. I am sharing her life. You can thank her for that." He began to drift closer, a cloudy hand reaching for Sora.

_Biyomon, digivolve into Birdramon!_

_Palmon, digivolve into Togemon!_

Birdramon crowed as she swayed her flaming wings, her sky-blue eyes blazing like blue fire at Nuskemon. Togemon stood near, her red-gloved fists clenching, facing the air Digimon. Nuskemon hissed unpleasantly.

"No, no." Sora struggled to sit up, trying to ignore the pain in her chest. "I am the one who must stop him!"

Mimi still held her. "What do you mean, Sora?"

Sora raised her eyes to her. She could hear the battle sounds the Digimon were making. "Mimi, it's just like the others. You defeated Vinamon because you have no other choice, right?" Mimi nodded. "I have to defeat Nuskemon because I have no other choice. It's my responsibility."

"But how? You are in pain."

Sora closed her eyes, trying to remember. Something about the poem . . . "Seek not the voice of the mind." She opened her eyes. "That's it. That's my mistake. I tried to solve the problem with my mind, not my heart. I am the Seeker. I must seek my heart, my love and use it to heal the boys." Sora moved to kneel between Taichi and Jyou, putting her hands on the boys' chests. She took a breath and silently spoke in her mind, _Seek, my heart, and find the power to bring them back._

Slowly, her hands began to glow with a faint, misty-white light. Sora heard Mimi gasping quietly. Sora kept on seeking in her heart. Soon, the boys glowed with the light. A portion of the light leaped to the Digimon, now also glowing faintly. Under her hands, Sora could feel the boys' heartbeats beating faster and breaths coming out more frequent. Mimi knelt by Jyou, her hazel eyes on his face as Sora watched Taichi's face. His eyelids began to flutter open. The handsome eyes of passionate fire focused on her.

"Tai!" Sora withdrew her hands, and the glows abruptly vanished. Mimi made a joyful squeal as she embraced Jyou. Sora hugged Taichi tightly, resting her head on his chest, so overjoyed that tears formed in her eyes. She felt the arms of Taichi holding her, and then he sat up, gazing around in blank confusion. Agumon and Gomamon woke, blinking in puzzlement.

"What happened?" Taichi said.

The sounds of the battle answered him, and all looked up to the shrieks of Birdramon. She soared away from a sudden gale by Nuskemon, avoiding the angry wind. Togemon was heard growling. "Needle Spray!" she hollered and expanded her chest. Shreds of steel needles sprayed from her body, soaring toward Nuskemon. But it was useless. Because he was made of fog, the needles passed through his body uselessly. Togemon looked furious at that.

Nuskemon paid no attention at the cactus Digimon. His crystal eyes sharpened, following the soars of Birdramon. He hissed, "Tornado Confusion!" He began to fly swiftly in a circle around Birdramon, forming a misty tornado. Birdramon flapped her wings in midair, her eyes trying to catch a glimpse of the Digimon. But Nuskemon was too fast, and Birdramon shook her dizzy head, crowing agonizingly.

"I must stop him." Sora stood up, swaying a bit, and walked toward the battle. Taichi hasted to his feet and grabbed her hands, holding her back. Sora looked back, her sad eyes meeting his concerned eyes. "Please," she whispered quietly. "I have to stop him." Taichi seemed to hesitate, his fire eyes glancing upward to the air Digimon. His eyes returned to her, softening with sympathy. He let go of her. Sora turned away almost unwillingly, and continued on her way. She felt his eyes on her.

Birdramon crashed to the ground, deeply agonized. Sora longed to go to her, but she must face Nuskemon and stop him. Thankfully, Togemon ran to Birdramon to help her. Nuskemon laughed evilly at the orange phoenix, then saw the girl standing alone, her amber eyes melting into heated gold.

Nuskemon sneered maliciously. "Come to join me, Mother?" He spoke the word 'mother' with ironic love.

She will not let him defeat her. Her crest began to glow deep red like pure blood, and the aura surrounded her. The aura appeared like sudden gales of blood-red wind twirling and soaring around her. Nuskemon was startled for an instant, and looking enraged, he made the low buzzing sound in his throat. 

_"Breath of Wind!" Her aura began to whirl around her, faster and faster, until a gigantic tornado of blood red spun around her. Sora silently commanded. The tornado expended, picking up loose twigs and leaves in its wake. Leaves stung her skin, but she remained firm, her eyes glued on the Digimon. The red tornado moved slowly, twisting and dancing, toward Nuskemon. He made a shocked shriek as he was sucked in the tornado. Sora could see him dissolving in the tornado, his foggy body merging with the red winds. Sora then commanded her power to halt. The tornado lazily faded into calm air. Nuskemon was completely gone._

The aura dissolved into thin air, and she was suddenly groggy, heavily swaying. She was about to fall when strong arms caught her to her knees. "Gotcha!" Taichi said. He held her for a while, then asked in concern, "Sora, are you okay?"

Sora was not feeling well. She was too hot, sweat forming under her hat. She panted with the sudden heat. "So hot . . ."

Taichi quickly took her hat off. Cool breezes soothed her face, and she rested slackly in Taichi's supported arms. She gazed up to him, and saw awe in his face. He was smiling with surprising affection, almost blushing. He spoke, "I would not believe myself if I say that, but . . . you have a beautiful strand of silver hair in your hair."

Sora stared mutely at him, and nearly blushed. Then she had a sudden thought. She looked down to her crest. Perfect once again, the red heart had healed back to one, no blood drops forming on it. She had her whole life back. She heard footsteps coming closer, and her friends hugged her.

Biyomon embraced her, pride in her eyes. "How do you feel?"

Sora's mouth moved, then shut. She tried to think up of a word to describe her. She gazed up to her friends, smiling coyly. "Breezy." Her friends seemed to be startled at her word, then burst into laughs of joy. It was good to laugh one again! Sora laughed as Taichi warmly hugged her. She was happy to see her friends safe just because of her love.

Mimi stood up suddenly, facing eastward, touching her chest. She turned to them, her hazel eyes brightening with joy. "Our friends are close! They are coming!"

Jyou stood, calmness in his dusky eyes. "At last! We will be finally together."

All stood and followed Mimi toward the other friends. Sora stopped in her tracks, looking down at her wrist. The cloud bracelet was gone. Sora then gazed up to the blue sky. She saw the chain of clouds, but they were now pure white with red lining. She grinned and called on her power. Soft breezes began to sway the branches, calmly whirling around her. 

Sora laughed, throwing her arms up, spinning in place as the breezes tickled her cheeks. "I am the Seeker!"

To be continued.


	8. Being of Life

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. As much as I love to change Digimon, the original Digimon is best. It's delicious and inspiring. Criticism will be remembered and flames will be forgotten. ~*~

Powers of Crests Saga: 

Part Eight: Being of Life

By Debbie (Dai-chan) *^_^*

Takeru kept a tight grip on the blue wolf's fur with one hand as he held his Digimon in his other arm. Patamon buried his face in the crook of his arm, his azure eyes shut. Takeru narrowed his eyes against the stinging wind as he tried to see the blurred trees moving past him. The wind stung at his eyes that he blinked back cold tears. Finally, Garurumon slowed down into a walk, heavy pants reverberating in his chest that Takeru could feel them. He and his brother were riding on Garurumon in hopes that they might find their missing friends faster that way. Takeru always liked the feel of the wolf's fur under his fingers. Even thought Garurumon's fur was steel-strong, the fur was so soft like down feathers. Takeru let go of his grip from the fur and gently cradled Patamon in his arms. 

He felt the light squeeze of his brother's hold around him. He held him so he wouldn't fall off. Takeru gazed back to his big brother. Yamato had his eyes on front, seeming to search for something. His new lock of snow-white swayed in the breeze along with his ash-blond hair. He is changed, Takeru thought sadly. His grey-blue eyes seemed intense, its pupils into slits, appearing as a wolf's eyes. Takeru knew Yamato was self-conscious about his new two fangs, trying to hide them while he was speaking or eating. Takeru often saw them, and somehow, he felt an awed shiver in his body whenever he looked upon to his brother.

Takeru looked behind his brother. Rianmon walked behind the wolf, also panting from the efforts of the run. Her riders, Kimika and Koushiro, were mounting on the horned, lavender dragon, their eyes gazing around. Tentomon flew near silently. Both were so different than before that Takeru was not sure he knew them anymore.

With his aware, hungry eyes, Koushiro seemed to absorb everything he finds and store them in his mind. He was quieter, but his eyes seemed to search for every word of any knowledge. Blind yet all seeing, Kimika sat behind Koushiro, her white eyes upward to the sky. She was more kind, but mostly silent and meditative. Takeru missed the old Kimika when she was easy to talk to, willing to help. She was still willing to help, yes, but in some way, she can see the reality in his soul and simply show him the first step to the problems or anything else.

Takeru quietly sighed. Would his friends and brother be back to the same?

Garurumon slowed down into a stop, raising his snout to sniff at the air. Yamato appeared to sniff the air, too, his wolfish eyes narrowed as he gazed around. Takeru remembered that since Yamato found his power, he could sense souls. He said that souls have different odors around them and somehow, he can taste them with his nose in the air. Definitely like a wolf. Rianmon went to a stop by Garurumon, her spiked tail calmly waving.

"To where, Matt?" Kimika asked after a moment waiting.

"They are close." Yamato's eyes went to a point to his far left. He pointed into the jungle, the friends' eyes following his finger. Takeru wondered how can Yamato sense the friends if he can't see them. Yamato turned to Kimika. "If we run now, we will find them in no time."

Kimika and Koushiro silently nodded.

Garurumon and Rianmon broke in a sprint, heading for where Yamato had pointed. Takeru gasped at the sudden movements before he gripped on the fur, balancing himself. He held Patamon in one arm firmly. He felt the tight, protected hold of Yamato as he had his arm around his waist. Eyes narrowed, Takeru watched the passing trees in a blurred motion. Garurumon and Rianmon were very agile, fleet, and after a moment, they finally slowed down.

"You are finally here!" Takeru looked down to see a grinning Taichi running toward them, his red eyes brightly blazing in the sunlight. Soon, Takeru saw Sora, Mimi, Jyou, and their Digimon walking toward them, looking thrilled to see their friends. Kimika slid off her Digimon and ran to hug Taichi, he laughing as he whirled his old friend around in his arms. Takeru heard Taichi making a comment about Kimika's white eyes, and she answered with a deep blush. Koushiro also hugged them, overjoyed.

Yamato slid off his Digimon and caught Takeru in his arms as he slid off. Garurumon and Rianmon de-digivolved into Gabumon and Iyumon. They went to their Digimon friends, hugging. All hugged each other, overjoyed and ecstatic. Even Mimi cried a bit. After a few hugs, Takeru stepped back and watched his older friends socializing together.

Takeru watched Sora and Mimi, the last ones who found their powers. Mimi looked sincere, relaxed as she chatted with Kimika and Koushiro. He saw a long tress of pretty green among her honey-colored hair. She looked radiant, thought Takeru. His eyes went to Sora, who stood close to Taichi, calmly listening as he talked with Jyou and Yamato. She had an alluring tress that appeared as molten silver among her chestnut hair, few strands of silver curling over her gentle eyes. Takeru gazed at each and every kid. All have found their powers. All but him.

"Wow, Sora and Mimi already found their powers!" he heard Patamon saying in awe, hovering near him. Takeru lowered his eyes, quiet. Patamon gazed over to him and touched his cheek with a gentle paw. "TK, what's the matter?"

"I am the only one who didn't have the power," Takeru said in soft tones.

The touch withdrew from his cheek, and Takeru looked up to see his Digimon smiling, his azure eyes so alike to his eyes. He spoke, "TK, I am sure you will have it soon." Takeru managed to grin, but it faded when he glanced at his friends. He would like to have that kind of power. It was like magic, and he loved magic. But he wondered if he would ever get it. Maybe he was too young?

Takeru gazed to Jyou, who was speaking, "So, all of us have found our powers?"

Yamato seemed to hesitate, and said in hushed tones. "All but . . . TK." The multicolored eyes of the kids and Digimon turning to him as one, wonder and curiosity in the eyes. Takeru suddenly felt his cheeks going hot, and he averted his eyes away, flushing deeply. His eyes laid on someone he didn't expect to see.

He saw a holographic image of an old man walking toward the group form the jungle, his snow-white hair pulled into a topknot. His footsteps were always silent, his arms always behind his back. There was a faint smile on his small mouth. "Hey, it's Gennai!" Takeru called to his friends. They turned to see him.

Gennai stopped in the front of Takeru, merely a few inches taller than the boys. His slanted eyes were always squinted, but Takeru could see the eyes, beady and jet-black, shining with a wise light. Gennai smiled at Takeru, then looked up to the kids. "Greetings, Digidestined." His voice was surprisingly deep for a guy such small. "I came here to see how . . ." He paused talking, his smile fading. His black eyes took in every inch of the older kids, saw the different colors of hairs, and saw the different eyes of Taichi, Yamato, and Kimika. "It's impossible," he whispered.

"What do you mean?" Takeru heard Koushiro saying.

Gennai tilted his head a bit. "Did you find your powers?" Takeru turned to see the kids nodding firmly. He gazed up to Gennai, who shook his head, a frown on his lips. "It's all wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Taichi stomped up to Gennai, his eyes suddenly flaming brightly. "Are you saying that we aren't supposed to have the powers?"

Gennai wasn't startled at the sudden flames in Taichi's eyes. He simply gazed back with immeasurable sadness. "Why won't you all sit, and I will explain all about it."

The kids and Digimon sat in a circle. Patamon settled in Takeru's lap, folding his soft wings to his body. Takeru sat between Yamato and Kimika. He watched the elder crossing his legs calmly and smoothly, surprisingly for an old man. His slanted eyes gazed at every kid with worried sorrow. He spoke softly, "Yes, you are supposed to have that kind of powers, but not now. One of the legends says that the Digidestined will possess their innate powers through the crests and defeat the ultimate evil."

"Innate?" Jyou said from Gennai's left side. Takeru didn't remember that Jyou's voice was very low, whispered, yet he can hear it very clearly. Jyou continued, "You mean we all have them since we were born?"

Gennai nodded at the tall, oldest boy. "You only need help to find them, and the crests are the ones."

"And what do you mean that we shouldn't have our powers now?" Sora calmly asked, her arms around her legs, her amber eyes always meditative.

Gennai gave out a small sigh. "I don't know why, but I do know that you aren't supposed to have them now. The legend didn't say why."

Mimi asked shyly from her position by Jyou, "Do you know who is the ultimate evil? Could it be Myotismon?"

The elder shook his head, his white topknot swaying. "There are Digimon far evil than Myotismon. He is not the ultimate evil."

"Can we use our powers to destroy him?" Takeru heard Kimika asking gently.

Gennai's black eyes suddenly sharpened, like black ice within the face of softness. His voice was stern. "You will never destroy Myotismon. The evil will never be destroyed because it is part of you." Then his voice and eyes softened. "But, however, the evil can be weakened."

By Kimika's other side, Koushiro scratched his chin in thought. Takeru often felt uneasy under his vivid eyes; they seemed to pierce right through him, searching for anything unknown. Koushiro's sharp eyes met the elder's eyes, the exact same color of black. He spoke, "So we might have to use our powers to weaken Myotismon."

"No, you can't, individually." Gennai lowered his eyes, his voice hushed. "The only one who can weaken him must have all your powers combined to be powerful enough to defeat the evil."

Sora leaned over a bit. "Who?"

Gennai waited for a brief moment, and then whispered, "The Savior." Now full of rich reverence, his eyes rose to meet the azure eyes of Takeru.

His heart seemed to stop as he gazed back speechlessly. Him, the savior? He weakly stumbled backward from the soft black eyes before he felt the warm arms around him. Yamato pulled him to his chest, cradling him. Takeru buried his shocked face in his brother's green shirt, feeling the tight, protected embrace of Yamato surrounding him.

"My brother?" he heard Yamato saying in awed disbelief. At that, Takeru almost cried; he never felt so shocked.

"Yes," he heard Gennai saying gently. "He will gather all your powers and use them, along with his own power, to defeat the ultimate evil. So the legend says."

Takeru gazed up to the elder, his eyes misting over with unexpected tears. "Why me?"

Gennai's eyes softened with compassion. "You are very special, TK. You possess the Crest of Hope. You are the Savior to save both your home world and Digiworld." He bowed his head, almost reverently, to Takeru, then stood up.

"Gennai!" Taichi's stopped him. The boy stood, easily taller than the elder, his red eyes meeting his black eyes. "How can we give our powers to him?"

Gennai held his gaze to him, appearing reluctant. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes, of course."

Gennai hesitated for a moment, and then turned to face the Digidestined and Digimon. "Because the powers are part of you, to give them to the Savior, you must also give up your lives."

All reacted differently. Taichi's body seemed to slacken with astonishment as Sora's hands flew to her mouth, her amber eyes full with woe. Mimi turned to Jyou with alarmed eyes as he gazed back with wistful eyes. Koushiro's vivid eyes seemed to lose their light as Kimika simply buried her face in her hands, her white eyes swiftly changing into a yellow hue. The Digimon gazed over to each other, shocked and speechless. Takeru felt Yamato tightening his embrace around him, and he rested his head on the arms, silent.

Sora's amber eyes gazed up to Gennai. "Are you certain?"

Gennai looked troubled, but his voice sounded upset. "That's why you aren't supposed to have the powers now. Your powers are too underdeveloped, too weak. You are not ready yet. Otherwise, we will be still in danger without the Digidestined."

"I don't want to be alone," Takeru whispered, his voice shaking.

In his misted vision, he saw the azure eyes of Patamon gazing up to him. They were full with fondness. "You still have me," he spoke softly. Takeru closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as his brother cooed softly to him, trying to comfort him.

He heard Kimika standing and walking to Gennai and Taichi. Her eyes were as sad as the elder's eyes. "Gennai, is there a way that we can give our powers without sacrificing our lives?" Gennai remained quiet, his black eyes down. "Please."

"You can hold on a bit of your power and still live. That's all I can say to you." Gennai glared silently to each kid. "You all must learn to control your powers and use them to defeat Myotismon. I guarantee you, it's not over yet." He turned to leave, his head bowed, heading for the jungle.

"Gennai!" Takeru tore himself from Yamato's embrace and ran toward him. Gennai stopped, his head turned to look at him. Takeru wiped away tears and gazed at him with his innocent blue eyes. His voice was weak. "Gennai, how can I defeat Myotismon? I am so small and . . ."

Gennai had a smile on his lips that seemed like he was a compassionate, lovingly grandfather looking down to a gifted, cherished child. "You are special, TK, even since you were born." Takeru lowered his head, but a wrinkled hand pushed him up by his chin, so gentle and kind. "Just believe in yourself, Savior." Gennai let go his chin and strolled into the jungle, his footsteps silent.

Takeru stared at where Gennai had vanished in the trees, standing alone and speechlessly. He heard soft footsteps, and his brother knelt by him, a hand touching his shoulder. His misted azure eyes met Yamato's grey-blue eyes. "I am scared, Matt." Takeru then buried himself in Yamato's arms, crying silently.

***

Demidevimon ducked his head as mad bolts of red lightning passed over where his head had been, crashing on a wall behind him. Demidevimon had no time to be relieved, and he was forced to fly under the golden throne, avoiding the red bolts. Under the chair, he watched his master screeching in outrage and shooting red lightning to his unfortunate bats. They wildly flapped their tiny wings, trying to avoid his rage.

"How in the blasted world can those kids win?!" Myotismon shrieked, his eyes blazing bluer than ice. "FOOLS! They are just children! I am surrounded by idiots! Worthless Digimon!"

He whirled around to see Demidevimon tiptoeing toward the door. The small bat froze in his tracks at the blue glare. He held up his wings, as if was trying to shield the glare from him. "Pl-please, boss! You can destroy them better than the others."

Myotismon growled in a questioning tone.

Demidevimon soared upward, cowering under the vampire Digimon's glare. "You are powerful than the Digidestined combined. Only you have the power to destroy them."

Myotismon's eyes narrowed, a thin pale eyebrow arching. He seemed to calm down, letting his dark cloak settling around him. "That's true," he said in pleasure, and then his voice heated up. "But the Digidestined already found their powers."

Demidevimon quickly shook his head, his golden eyes suddenly full with scheming cleverness. "Not all, boss. The Savior is still powerless."

Myotismon sneered silently, his eyes turning into blue ice. "Ah, I shall go and destroy the Savior before he finds his power." He silently commanded his black magic. A small, glowing portal formed from the surrounding darkness - the pool of seeing. Within the portal, the eight Digidestined and Digimon were seen sleeping together by a fire, their faces full with peace and calmness, all but one. The youngest boy was awake, looking somber, his azure eyes dimmed.

Myotismon was not fooled by the innocence he carried. This boy may be small, but he has immense power, perhaps greater than his own power. But the boy didn't find it. Demidevimon giggled with mischief as Myotismon again sneered.

"Sleep, Little Savior," the vampire whispered. "It will be the last night you will see. Alive."

***

Takeru fingered a shred of grass on the ground, deeply in thought. He laid on his stomach, resting his head on his hand. Patamon nestled by him, his wings folding over his closed eyes, deeply asleep. Everyone was asleep except Takeru. He still pondered about Gennai's words. Is he really the Savior? What is his power? How can he defeat Myotismon? There were so many questions buzzing in his head that he lost the count.

The upside-down head of his brother came in his vision, his grey-blue eyes with slit pupils dark in his shadows. "Hey, kiddo," he said, faintly smiling.

"Hi," Takeru spoke softly.

The head tilted. "What's the matter?" Takeru answered with a shrug, his eyes lowered. Yamato nodded, his blond hair swaying. His face became red with the added blood. Yamato's head withdrew from his vision, and his brother laid by him, holding up by his elbows. "Thinking?"

Takeru pushed up himself by his elbows. "About being the Savior." If one of the kids or Digimon woke up and looked over to the brothers, he or she would be surprised. For an instant, the brothers looked like twins, the older gazing down to the younger, blond hair clouding over their eyes of similar colors. Takeru raised his eyes upon Yamato, asking, "Am I really the Savior?"

Yamato's eyes went upward to the night sky, the fire illuminating his face yellowish-orange. "Well, you are very special."

"How special am I?"

Yamato looked down to Takeru, a faint, brotherly smile on his lips. "Well, you always want to help, don't you? You always are generous, want to be sure that we are happy. You and Patamon are special. Patamon digivolved into Angemon to defeat Devimon. That's special. You are the Savior who will defeat the evil. That's special."

Takeru's eyes lowered to his Digimon, who was sleeping by his side. Yeah, that was special because Patamon digivolved to protect him and his friends. But now, it was his turn now. He was the true one who must protect his friends. His voice was low, "I don't know what to do."

He felt his brother's hand squeezing his shoulder. "Yes, you will know," Yamato said. Then Takeru gazed up, meeting his brother's gaze. Yamato rested his forehead against Takeru's forehead, grey-blue eyes staring right in his azure eyes. Takeru saw something he never saw in Yamato's eyes. Brotherly love. Yamato's voice was soft, tender. "I never get the chance to tell you, but I am very proud to be your brother."

Tears suddenly streamed out of Takeru's eyes. He never knew Yamato really does love him. He longed to be like his older brother, but Yamato often seemed to withdraw from him that Takeru thought Yamato isn't that caring. But he never knew . . . "Hey, don't cry," Yamato soothed him. A finger touched a tear before it fell down. Takeru wiped away tears. His brother hugged him, welcoming his love and warmth. Takeru slowly grew courageous because his brother believed in him.

Then a devilish laugh echoed through the night, seemed to be born from the surrounding darkness. Takeru quietly gasped as Yamato protectively shielded him in his arms. As he remembered before, a slice of living darkness shifted from thin air, expanding until he could see pale eyes within. It floated above the group, its eyes hooded at the brothers. "How pathetic," it hissed.

"It's Myotismon!" Yamato spoke. His voice seemed to howl like a wolf, howling through the darkness. "Hey, guys! Wake up!"

His voice stirred the kids and Digimon one by one. They saw Myotismon, and reacted with different reactions, some frightened, some angered, and some worried. All crawled around the brothers, instinctively protecting Takeru, protecting the Savior. Myotismon floated in midair, his cloak silently billowing around him.

"Come to fight us?" Agumon growled, his emerald eyes blazing. His Digimon friends growled along with him, glaring at the vampire.

Myotismon seemed to smirk. "Why, I would never dream of that. I am only here to destroy the Savior." Takeru shuddered in horror as the ice blue eyes gazed at him. He shifted behind his brother. Myotismon raised a long finger and curled it, as if was beckoning him. "Come here, Little Savior."

Takeru violently shook his head.

"Guys!" he heard Taichi speaking. Looking up, he saw Taichi gazing around the kids, his red eyes aflame. "It's up to us to protect TK from Myotismon." He turned to the Digimon. "Digimon, you must digivolve!"

_Agumon, digivolve into Greymon!_

_Gomamon, digivolve into Ikkakumon!_

_Iyumon, digivolve into Rianmon!_

_Palmon, digivolve into Togemon!_

_Tentomon, digivolve into Kabuterimon!_

_Gabumon, digivolve into Garurumon!_

_Biyomon, digivolve into Birdramon!_

All digivolved Digimon stood in a line before Myotismon, tensed up and ready to battle. Greymon and Ikkakumon threw their heads back and roared piercingly, the roars vibrating in the air. Garurumon howled fiercely as Rianmon savagely waved her poisonous spiked tail. Kabuterimon and Birdramon flapped their wings in midair, glaring darkly. Togemon clenched her red-gloved fists, ready to box the vampire in his face.

Myotismon hissed unpleasantly at the Digimon.

Takeru heard Sora yelling, "It's not enough! Digivolve again!"

_Greymon, digivolve into Metalgreymon!_

_Rianmon, digivolve into Nightrianmon!_

_Kabuterimon, digivolve into Megakabuterimon!_

_Garurumon, digivolve into Weregarurumon!_

_Birdramon, digivolve into Garudamon!_

Ikkakumon and Togemon stood together. Metalgreymon, Weregarurumon, and Megakabuterimon stood in a defending line behind them as Nightrianmon and Garudamon widened their wings to float in the darkness above the Digimon.

"FOOLS!" Myotismon shrieked as the Digimon attacked him at once.

"Get away!" Taichi ordered the kids.

"No!" Yamato yelled. All looked at him in confusion. He pointed up to the battling Digimon, saying, "Our Digimon cannot defeat him, no matter how. We have to give up our powers to TK. He's the only one who can defeat him."

"Matt . . ." Takeru clasped on his brother's hand, trying to speak, but Yamato silenced him by a sharp squeeze on his hand.

Koushiro nodded in agreement with Yamato. "He is right. We have to do it. Come on. I will tell you where to stand in the circle." He quickly explained that he, Yamato, Kimika, and Takeru have found a mansion with the crests. Takeru remembered that. The kids moved around in a blur, going where Koushiro and Kimika were pointing.

Takeru pulled on Yamato's hand harder, and it brought his attention to him. "Matt, I can't do it!"

Yamato knelt to his height, holding him by his shoulders. "Sure, you can! We have faith in you. You can do it! I believe in you. We all do."

"Matt . . ." Takeru whispered, but Yamato again silenced him with a finger on his lips.

Yamato's grey-blue eyes suddenly softened with compassion. "Believe in yourself, Savior, Onii-chan." He stood, walking backward, his eyes glued on him. He went to stand between Kimika and Koushiro. The kids stood in a circle around Takeru, facing him. Taichi, Sora, Mimi, Jyou, Koushiro, Yamato, and Kimika.

Suddenly, all looked up at an agonized scream of one of the Digimon. All saw Metalgreymon laying on the ground, groaning in pain, three long deep red gashes across his belly. Myotismon hovered in midair, panting, blood dripping from his clawed hand.

Taichi groaned, but in outrage. He turned to the kids, ordering, "Do it now!" The kids clasped on hands, bonding into a stable, steadfast circle. Before Takeru's awed eyes, each kid began to glow with their own auras. Taichi's aura flared with enraged flames, as Kimika's aura was silver shadows with black spirals. Yamato's aura was like the starless night sky, misting around him as Koushiro's violet aura sparkled and charged with crazy silver lightning bolts. Jyou's aura was like calm waters of an ocean as Mimi's aura was simply green, rippling like a shawl. Sora's aura was red breezes, swaying around her. Their eyes were closed, their face concentrated as they called on their innate powers.

Takeru gazed over to the battling Digimon. Myotismon was stronger than them. Nightrianmon was using her silver aura, so like her partner's, to shield her fallen Metalgreymon, Ikkakumon and Weregarurumon as Garudamon, Togemon, and Megakabuterimon tried to combat Myotismon. Takeru counted the good Digimon. Seven . . .

Then he remembered. Panicked, he called, "Patamon! Patamon!"

Then he heard a voice calling back from above. "I am here, TK!" Takeru looked up to see Patamon soaring from above, flying downward to him. Takeru held up his hands, urging to hold him. He didn't want to do it alone. The very moment Patamon entered his welcoming arms, the powers struck him.

"Ahh!" Takeru recoiled in pain. He wished to drop to the ground, but the powers held him up on his feet. The auras surrounded him in spirals of colors, giving him an aura of a rainbow. In his vague mind, Takeru felt all the elements that the kids gave away, feeling them inside him. He felt pure fire heating him as dark shadows blinded him. He felt shivers touching him like loving hands as tiny lightning bolts stunned him. He felt refreshing water soothing his soul, smooth leaves brushing against his skin, and soft breezes touching his cheeks. All happened at the same time, confusing him, trying to experience them by one.

Then the elements faded from his soul, replaced by strong, immense qualities that all the kids were worthy of . . . and he was worthy of them. He experienced each of them, knowing them. 

_Courage to prevail . . . _

_Reliability to support . . . _

_Empathy to understand . . . _

_Sincerity to entrust . . . _

_Knowledge to remember . . . _

_Friendship to respect . . . _

_Love to love . . . _

_Hope to believe._

Takeru smiled. He now knew what to do, know his power. His power was . . . Life itself.

As one, all the kids in the circle collapsed to the ground, their strength gone. Yamato groaned, struggling against the darkness in his mind. He tried to raise himself by hands, but he fell back to the ground, too weak. His eyes closed, he laid still, panting. He never felt so weak before. Remembering Gennai's words, he had grasped on a bit of his power and pushed the rest to his brother. He could sense the kids were doing the same. Then a bright light struck on his closed eyes. He opened his eyes and gasped quietly.

His own brother was left standing, holding a dormant Patamon in his arms. A heavenly, beautiful white light surrounded him, rays of gold shining from his body. His innocent face was facing upward, illuminated by his own aura, his eyes closed.

"Takeru . . ." Yamato whispered in immeasurable awe. He never knew Takeru had such strength in himself. He sat up, feeling the warm hand of Kimika clasping on his hand. All saw Takeru and sat in awed silence, their faces bathed by the white light.

Then Yamato saw something. He saw a faint shadow of three pairs of mighty snow-white wings spreading out from Takeru's back, followed by a pale-skinned male creature. He stood behind Takeru, his head bowed in reverence, his gentle hands clutching a tall, golden staff. His hair was orange, tied at his neck, flowing to his back. He was clad in silver armor and a sky-blue robe.

Yamato knew who he was. "Angemon."

The angel Digimon raised his head at his voice. A silver helmet hid his eyes, but Yamato believed that his eyes must be the very same color of his brother's. Angemon took a calm look around at the silent kids and smiled the very same innocent smile of Takeru. He putted a hand on Takeru's shoulder, and Takeru's eyes opened. Takeru looked the same as Angemon, silent and angelic.

As one, Takeru and his angel shadow moved together. Angemon raised his other hand with the golden staff upward, guiding the Savior. His arm cradling his Digimon, Takeru raised his other hand upward. His azure eyes shifted to a floating Myotismon. All the other Digimon have grew too weak to battle, and some de-digivolved into their child stages. Myotismon looked very enraged, his eyes darker than midnight as he gazed down to the small boy.

_"Being of Life!" Yamato heard Takeru speaking. His voice was sounding ethereally, divinely. A part of the light began to spiral around his arm, gathering in his hand. A beam of the heavenly light radiated from his hand, soaring silently, and attacked Myotismon before he would make a move._

Yamato could hear the pained yells, enraged shrieks, and cursed screeches coming from the Digimon as he cringed in the light. Yamato could not see anything. The light grew so bright that all the kids turned away, shielding their eyes. Abruptly, the yells were silent, and the light was gone, leaving everything in the darkness.

Yamato looked up and saw that Myotismon was gone, and so was Angemon. He saw his brother laying on his back, his head a bit lolled to one side, still holding his Digimon in his arms.

"TK! TK!" Yamato crawled to him and gently picked him up in his arms, embracing him closely. Takeru's eyes were closed, breathing faintly, looking like he was sleeping undisturbed. Yamato touched Takeru's cheek, feeling he was warm. "TK? Can you hear me?"

Yamato saw his eyes fluttered open. Azure eyes full of innocent strength gazed up to him. Takeru stared at him for a while, and then smiled faintly at his brother. He rested his head against Yamato's chest, and went back to slumber, exhausted.

Sudden tears of joy and relief streamed down Yamato's face, and he didn't even bother to wipe them away. He embraced his brother warmly, resting his forehead against his sleeping brother's forehead. Tears fell to the boy's still face, unnoticed. Yamato was so proud that the Savior was his brother. He knew Takeru was special.

Then Yamato felt an embrace around him. Looking up, he saw Kimika, also crying jovially, kneeling by them. She was changed. Her eyes were now gentle brown, and her golden braid was gone. Then Taichi embraced them all, laughing happily. His eyes were no longer aflame, but back to pale tan. The red strand was gone. Sora, Mimi, Jyou, and Koushiro embraced them, nearly burying Yamato and Takeru, all crying and laughing. They were also changed, back to their normal selves and features. Their powers were gone, back within until it is time to use them again. Then all the Digimon - Koromon, Gomamon, Palmon, Motimon, Sunomon, Tsunomon, and Yokomon - returned to hug their partners, cheering. The rings of cries and laughter filled the night.

And in the center of the embraces, Takeru and Patamon peacefully slept, dreaming dreams of white feathers . . .

A lone white feather sailed upward to the pale moon on a silent breeze . . .

***

In deep pain, Myotismon commanded his power. The white feather he held in his hand abruptly burst with flames, then burned into a dying feather, black and decaying. He let it go, and it fell to the ground. Almost. He was almost defeated. He underestimated the Savior's power. Next time he will be ready.

He limped to a dark table, his foot crunching over the dead feather into ashes. Myotismon sneered darkly, his talons drawing grooves on the black stones. "You foolish Digidestined!" he hissed evilly. "It's not over!"

On the black table, there laid nine small cards . . . 

Never the End!  
  



	9. Rebirth of Death

~*~ My special Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters. If you sue me, bite me. I have my special disclaimer, so you can't do anything to me. MUHAHAHAHAHAH! Criticism will be given a parade and flames will be shown to the garbage can. Burn, baby! _Burn! ~*~_

Powers of Crests:

Part Nine: Rebirth of Death

By Debbie (Dai-chan)

Crouching quietly, Taichi brushed away leaves from his face and scanned the area thoroughly. He was sitting on a high branch, almost hidden by the thick leaves. The tree was standing along with its fellows near a beach. The sand was white and sparkling, but Taichi was not sightseeing for enjoyment. He was on patrol, watching for any sight for suspicious Digimon wandering around. He and his friends finally escaped from the Dark Masters, left on Piximon's words of faith and trust.

His heart clenched painfully as he remembered the hasty death of the wise diminutive Digimon that aided them a long time ago. His teeth clenched together with bitterness as he again scanned around the white beach and the calm ocean. Any moment, Metalseadramon would appear out from the water and attack his friends. Taichi hoped that they were well-hidden.

"Are they gone?"

Taichi gazed down from his hitch on the branch to the small figure of pink near the tree, her hazel eyes on him with concern. Mimi was helping him, too, but was too upset over Piximon's death. He understood how she felt. Taichi called after her, his voice soft enough to be heard only by Mimi, "I don't see anything else, just the beach and the ocean. I guess we are safe for now."

He saw Mimi slowly nodding, her eyes lowering to the beach from her hidden shelter in the bushes. Taichi took another thorough scan around, then carefully began to climb down the tree, grasping on branches, hoping that they would support his weight. Occasionally, he could hear a groaning creak from one of the branches, but he arrived to the ground safely. Mimi crawled from her shelter, and Taichi could see their Digimon, Palmon and Agumon, following after her. Mimi shifted closer to him, and he saw new tears misting in her eyes, her face unusually hard.

"They were so mean," Mimi murmured to herself, then her face softened. "Poor Chuumon and Piximon." She buried her face in her hands. Usually, Taichi would not know what to do, and awkwardly held her for a moment until he saw Sora walking toward them for another patrol. She saw the crying Mimi and ran to her, taking her from Taichi.

"Come on, Mimi," Sora soothed as the girls walked into another part of the forest, alone.

Taichi sighed, gazing at them in worried concern. He turned the other way and headed for the hidden camp with Agumon and Palmon at his sides. Palmon knew Mimi better and chose to let her be with Sora. Taichi arrived to the camp.

The Digidestined finally returned back from their home world and found the Digiworld in greater danger than ever. They have been encountered with the Dark Masters and found them too horrible to face, but Taichi knew that they have to face them someday to save the worlds. He wondered if he would stand to see one of his friends losing his or her life. Would it be worth it?

Yamato was standing near a tree, his hands clenching into fists, shaking with anger. His eyes of grey-blue sharpened than before, gazing at Taichi. "They will pay for what they did to our friends." His voice was strained. He was also affected by Piximon's death. But instead of grieving, he was raged, muttering angrily at himself.

Taichi tightened his jaw and nodded sharply with Yamato. He clenched his fist. "I completely agree with you, Matt. They must pay." For a moment, a single goal appeared in the boys' minds, trusting on each other for succeeding the goal.

Someone must have seen their faces and tended to stop them. Kimika stepped in between of the boys, the distraction shaking them out of their thoughts. Kimika silently glared at each boy and spoke quietly, "Not now, guys. First, we need to find a place to hide and contact Gennai. Vengeance can wait."

Yamato seemed to blush slightly and turned away as Taichi managed to make a sheepish grin at his best friend. Kimika shook her head and returned to her usual side with Iyumon, sitting near Jyou. Taichi ran his hand through his thick hair, his anger evaporating from his chest. He turned to the redhead, who was typing at his yellow-white laptop, his black eyes glued on the screen. He was typing to gain information about the Dark Masters and also tried to contact Gennai in hopes that he might know something about how to defeat the evil Digimon.

Taichi knelt by Koushiro, his eyes one the screen. "Find him yet?"

Koushiro solemnly shook his head. "No, not yet. For certain motives, Gennai could be absent or deny acknowledging us."

"Or perhaps could fail to respond," replied Jyou from his side with Kimika, his dusky eyes unusually hard. He was affected by the deaths, too, but he appeared silent about it, his face slightly taut.

As the kids discussed along with each other, Hikari watched them from under a tree. Her faithful Gatomon was curled up in her lap, her huge eyes of sapphire hooded, musing in her thoughts. Takeru was sitting by her, also watching the older kids. Patamon was perched upon his green-blue hat, as usual, his azure eyes closed, seeming to doze in the hot sun. Hikari was the last one to be discovered as the Ninth Digidestined. She, along with her friends and brother, returned to Digiworld to help. But Hikari was not expecting any danger like that, the Dark Masters annihilating the poor Digimon they encountered. She knew that the kids seemed uneasy about what would happen, but still, they appeared confident to defeat them. After all, they have Takeru and Hikari as the hopes. For what reason, Hikari didn't know.

Hikari suddenly turned her head to her left. She heard something. A sound like a voice. A very faint one, echoing from the trees. She strained her ears, but couldn't hear anything.

"Kari?" she heard Gatomon speaking. Her eyes studied her with worry.

"What's the matter?" asked Takeru from his side. His azure eyes followed her tan eyes to where she was staring at, then turned to her.

Hikari met his gaze. "I thought I heard a voice."

Takeru cocked his head in curiosity. "What voice?"

"You didn't hear it?"

The littlest boy shook his head, shaking Patamon from his doze. "What's it like?"

Hikari again strained her ears, but still heard nothing. "Well, it sounded like a cry. Very faint."

"What cry?" Hikari and Takeru gazed up at Taichi's voice. Taichi was walking toward them, his tan eyes puzzled. He took a long gaze at them. "Who is crying?"

Gatomon calmly answered, "Kari heard a voice nearby."

Taichi appeared not pleased at the information. His eyes met his sister's eyes, piercing in deeply, making Hikari silent under the sharp gaze. His voice was dense, "Kari, please stop fooling around. We have more than enough on our minds."

Hikari blinked her eyes and responded with a bold voice, "But I didn't do anything -" A sudden groan rang through the trees, seeming to startle the kids from their speculations.

"What was that?" Jyou murmured in surprise, standing up. The others were standing up, their eyes on where the groan was coming from in wondering hesitation.

"Now am I fooling around, Tai?" Hikari said sharply, eying her brother. Taichi turned to her, and she could see the clear apology reflecting in his eyes.

"Someone is hurt. We must go and help him." The kids looked around at Mimi's voice as she and Sora came in. They were, too, hearing the groan. Mimi looked deeply concerned, wringing her peach-gloved hands.

Sora was looking nervous, shaking her head. "It could be a trick."

The groan was heard again. This time, it was louder, almost like a sob, deeply pained and taut. Hikari began to wonder if there was really someone hurt. Taichi was thinking the same thing. "I don't think it's a trick. Come on, let's go!" 

All followed him, the leader, through the trees, trying to listen for the groan. Hikari could hear it, getting louder and frequent. Who was crying and why? Maybe it was a hurt Digimon. Hopefully, a good Digimon. Encountering an angry, injured evil Digimon was too scary to face. Soon, Taichi stopped in his tracks, his eyes suddenly widened. Hikari crowded through the stopping kids and stood by his side. She saw a creature, as small as her, sitting, almost hidden by the bushes. She was clad in a scarlet robe, thick and heavy, a red hood covering her head. Hikari couldn't see her face; the Digimon was bending over, holding her right arm. Hikari noticed that the arm was covered with red blood, almost identical with the torn red sleeve. She could hear the sobs, now softer from the hood.

"Hey, are you okay?" Taichi called out, his voice awkwardly concerned.

The Digimon alarmingly looked up, and the hood fell off, revealing a head of silver hair. Her face was the face of a girl, with pale skin and huge golden eyes. The eyes were widened with vast fear. "Who - who are you?" Her voice quavered. "Stay away!" She began to crawl backward with one arm; her right arm was clutched close to her stomach. Her eyes still were on the kids. Not seeing where she was going, she bumped into a tree behind her and sat there, shaking with fright.

"Calm down," Palmon spoke as she and Biyomon went to her side. The Digimon still cowered at the soft voice. "We are not harming you. We are friends."

The Digimon suddenly yelled out with a hot voice, "I have no friends! All my friends are dead!" Hot tears streamed out of her eyes, crying with soft sobs.

"Oh, don't cry," Hikari heard Takeru saying as he arrived to her side. Hikari gazed at him with surprise. His voice was different than before, very placid and benevolent. His azure eyes seemed to sparkle with mercy. He went past Palmon and Biyomon and sat by the crying Digimon, placing a hand on her shoulder. The Digimon gazed up to him. "You are safe with us."

The Digimon eyed him for a moment, and Hikari saw her golden eyes widened at Takeru's beaming face. Her voice was soft now, filling with wondering awe. "You . . ."

Hikari heard rustlings, and Kimika and Jyou passed her, kneeling by the Digimon's other side. Kimika was speaking softly, "Let us check on your arm." The Digimon seemed hesitant at her words, her eyes distrustful at the girl and boy. Then Hikari saw her eyes again widening, sparkling with amazement. Silently, the Digimon let Jyou and Kimika checking on the blooded arm, they carefully tending. "What happened to you?" Kimika was asking, her brown eyes soft.

The Digimon's voice seemed to thicken with bitterness, her eyes lowered. "I was a prisoner of Metalseadramon. He was trying to use me for my mystic powers."

"Oh, how awful!" Hikari heard Mimi exclaiming.

The Digimon gazed up, and Hikari saw a smirk passing on her lips. "But I finally escaped. I will not be a slave to him anymore!" Hikari suddenly felt uneasy at the Digimon, shifting closer to her silent brother. Something about the smirk made Hikari nervous.

Hikari watched the Digimon as she studied the faces of Kimika and Jyou. Something about her . . . "What's your name?" she asked curiously.

The Digimon gazed to her, and Hikari thought she saw an odd gleam in her golden eyes. But the Digimon just smiled brightly. "My name is Sanimon, and I am so pleased to meet the famous Digidestined. I am so honored to have the Seer and the Reconciler helping me."

Hikari saw something strange. Jyou dropped the roll of white bandages to the ground, his eyes suddenly widened. Kimika jolted her head up in startled astonishment, her face paled. The eyes of dusky and brown narrowed as they eyed the smiling Digimon.

Sanimon didn't seem noticed by that. She turned to Takeru. "And you are the Savior, right?" 

Takeru was nodding, smiling back with cheerfulness.

Sanimon finally gazed up to the rest. "So you must be the Master, the Seeker, the Guardian, the Guide, and the Warder."

Hikari quickly looked back to the kids, wondering why the Digimon was calling them by strange names. Taichi was looking pale, his hands touching lightly on his chest. Sora shifted farther from the Digimon, her eyes closed. Yamato scowled lightly. Mimi lowered her eyes to her entwined hands. Koushiro seemed to cringe at a memory passing in his mind. Their Digimon companions gazed at each kid, their multicolored eyes full with understanding concern. All were really uneasy under the gleaming golden eyes. What was going on here? Why was that Digimon calling them like that, and why were they seeming so troubled?

Taichi let his hand fall to his side, his tan eyes hard at Sanimon. "Yeah, we are them."

Jyou finished wrapping the arm as Kimika held it up gently. As he putted away the roll back in his duffel bag, Kimika tied a sling around Sanimon's neck and placed the injured arm in it. "You will be okay soon," Kimika was saying. Her voice was slightly tight, as if was still shaken from Sanimon's calling of her name. "Just be careful for awhile."

Taichi knelt down, but a little far from Sanimon. "Are you still well enough to walk? We need to move on to find a place for the night."

Sanimon nodded. "I know a place. I was running away for it. It's probably the only safe place in this crazed world."

"Are you sure?"

Putting the hood over her head, Sanimon then smiled. "Do you doubt me?"

Taichi looked like he wanted to say it, but kept silent. He took a long scan around his friends, waiting. The kids were silent, but Yamato nodded sharply, and Taichi sighed softly. "All right. We have no other choice."

Sanimon stood up a bit weakly, helped by Takeru and the other Digimon. She seemed to bow deeply to Taichi. "Thank you for agreeing to my suggestion, Master."

Hikari saw Taichi jerking his head away a little too quickly, his eyes tightly shut. His hand shook, going to his chest. Sora and Kimika were gazing at him with worry. Even the cheerful Takeru was distressed as he watched the dusky-haired boy.

She was almost impatient about what was happening, impatient that she was the only one who didn't know anything. But her concern was on her brother. She went to his side, holding on his arm. "Tai, are you okay?"

Taichi gazed to her with a weak grin and stood up. He patted her on her head, seeming feebly. "I am okay, _ane," he said, using the Japanese word for sister. However, his eyes were clouded with something. "Let's go."_

Sanimon led the group, her footsteps graceful, but weak, as if still weak from the loss of blood. Takeru was at her side, offering his aid. Yamato was at her other side, seeming hesitant to help, but seeing his brother do so, decided to aid anyway. Hikari wondered what had happened to the kids. There was a sudden, dark silence drifting around them, their faces pale and tight. The Digimon had deep sorrow, seeming to share their hidden encounters. Taichi was looking haggard, his eyes darkened with refreshed memories. Hikari slid her hand in his large hand, but it was hanging slackly.

"_Ani, why did Sanimon call you the Master?" Hikari asked quietly._

Taichi moved only his eyes to gaze down to her, and then returned his gaze back to the path. "That's how Digimon know me."

"What do you mean?"

Taichi tightened his grasp on her hand, his eyes sharp at her. "I prefer not to talk about it, okay?"

Hikari was surprised at his reply and meekly whispered, "Okay . . ." She couldn't help it to glance at Gatomon with wonder. Gatomon walked beside her, and her sapphire eyes were clouded with bewilderment.

Soon, Sanimon stopped in the middle of the path, and her eyes turned to her right, pointing with her good arm. "Here we are." All followed their eyes to where she was pointing at and saw a huge antique mansion, colored shadowy blue, standing alone in a grove of twisted trees. There were no windows on the sides, but with no glass, either. It looked hollow, lifeless.

Hikari heard someone making a choked gasp, and she turned to see Yamato deathly pale, stepping backward. Kimika and Koushiro went to him, holding on his arms, she whispering to him softly. Koushiro turned to Sanimon with a frown.

"This place is unprotected," Koushiro said. "It's in the command of Banshemon. Why are you bringing us here? Does she want Matt back?"

Hikari was now really confused about this. Yamato was slightly shaking, his eyes on the mansion as Kimika kept on lulling him with soft words. She was glaring at Sanimon with a dark frown, too.

Sanimon took a puzzled look at the blond boy and replied to Koushiro, "You mean Banshemon? She was long gone. I thought the Guardian destroyed her."

"What about the phantasms that wander in that cursed mansion?" Yamato said, his voice still choked.

"They were gone after Banshemon was destroyed. I was the former guardian long before Banshemon took over."

"Guardian?" Mimi asked.

Sanimon gazed over to the mansion. "This is the Temple of the Digidestined. I am the Guardian of the Temple. I know everything abut you all, vowed to guard all the secrets and legends of the Digidestined. The Temple has a sacred room that has the Circle of the Crests." Sanimon turned to Yamato, Kimika, Koushiro, and Takeru, her golden eyes sparkling. "I am sure that you were there before." The kids were silent, all but Takeru glaring at her. Sanimon wasn't wavered at the glares. She calmly said, "We must remain there for a while. It's the only place you can trust. Trust me."

Yamato was heard muttering under his breath as the group headed for the mansion. Hikari gazed at the mansion. The Temple of the Digidestined? It would be more . . . livelier, Hikari thought. As they got closer, Hikari could feel a cold draft coming from the mansion, but no one ever noticed. She shivered slightly and shifted closer to Taichi. They entered the mansion, and Hikari awed at the sight. 

The inside was a kind of lobby with two massive stairways curling upward to the second floor. There was two doors, one at her right and another from ahead of her. There was a dim light coming from somewhere, but she couldn't find it anywhere. As Sanimon led them to the right door, Hikari caught a glimpse of nine large paintings on the second floor, open to all who could see. Hikari wondered about them, but Taichi dragged her, holding her close to himself, She could feel the tension in his body against her body.

The room was nice and cool from the humid air outside. There, they spent the night. No one kept guard. Even Sanimon slept, saying that no one would ever try to attack the Temple because even the evil Digimon respected the Digidestined, however with a hateful taste. Hikari could not sleep. She laid by her sleeping brother, wondering about what happened to her friends before they returned to the home world. How came that Sanimon called them by names? Was it a legend? If she was included in the legend, would she have a similar name?

Hikari stood quietly, not wanting to wake her brother and Digimon. She felt that she wanted to be somewhere. She exited the room and walked straight to the door between the stairs. Although she wanted to see the beautiful paintings, she felt that she was needed in the room. The mansion was deathly silent, save for her low breaths and the whistling breeze outside. She could see the darkness outside from the empty windows, creeping among the swaying branches. She thought she saw a flash of gold somewhere, but when she looked again, it was gone.

Hikari entered the room and was speechless at the sight. It was empty, but she could see the eight symbols of the kids' crests on the walls, two on each. Also, there was a circle, engraved in the hard floor, a circle of the same symbols. Seven around one. She saw the Crest of Hope's symbol set in the center, seeming bright among the dark symbols of the older kids. But she saw something missing. Her crest's symbol was not there anywhere. There was no symbol of the Crest of Light anywhere. Hikari wondered, and then gazed down to her crest, dangling alongside to the silver whistle. The crest was installed in the polished brass tag, colored pale pink. A flower with eight diamond-shaped petals around a tiny circle. Why wasn't the Crest of Light among the circle?

"Couldn't sleep?"

Hikari gasped, turned around, and blushed lightly. Takeru was smiling at her near the door, his azure eyes the only light in the darkened room. "TK, you scared me."

"Sorry about that." Takeru walked toward her, and then stopped in his tracks, gazing at the circle. Hikari could see paleness appearing in his face, and then it was gone. Takeru went to his side. "So this must be the Circle of the Crests Sanimon was talking about. I was wondering about that."

Hikari gazed at him with puzzlement. "You have been here before?"

Takeru nodded. "That's where my Onii-chan found his power."

Hikari grew confused, more confused that she became dizzy at the new information. "What do you mean, _dachi?" she replied, using the Japanese slang for friend. The way he gazed at the circle with quietness made her wonder. "What power?"_

Takeru's eyes went to the symbol of Hope, and his eyes seemed to brighten. "Gennai told us that there is a legend that we could tap on our powers through our crests and use them to defeat the ultimate evil. We don't know what the ultimate evil is, but for some reason, we did get our powers before we found out abut you. Gennai said that it was too early for us to have them, and now we lost our powers. But I am sure we will find them soon."

Hikari shook her head. "Powers? What are you talking about?"

Takeru turned to her. "Remember when Sanimon called us by names? That are the names Digimon know us through that legend. Tai is the Master, Matt is the Guardian, Izzy is the Warder. You know what I mean."

"And what about the powers?"

Takeru shrugged. "Each of us has our own power. Tai has Fire, Matt has Spirit, Izzy has Lightning, Kim has Shadow, Sora has Wind, Mimi has Earth, and Joe has Water."

"And yours?"

Takeru then smiled. "Life."

Hikari made a chuckle. "Surely, you are joking."

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course not!" Hikari's tan eyes gazed around the walls and the circle. "You are telling me that we have magic to control. It's ridiculous for us to have them. You must try to amuse me, _dachi."_

"Why would I lie to you, _dachi? Here, let me show you."_

"Show me what?"

"My power, what else?"

Hikari sighed. "TK, even though this power thing is real, you said that you all lost your powers."

Takeru made a grin, his eyes sparkling. He just beckoned her to come closer. Hikari sighed and came closer. "Hold up your hands like that," Takeru said, holding his hands up, the palms facing her, the fingers upward. Hikari did so, still puzzled. The hands came together.

There were sudden rays of golden light beaming from between the hands, illuminating the kids' faces. Hikari felt a sudden incredible feeling bursting through her body, warming all over her. It came so sudden that Hikari made a surprised yelp and quickly withdrew her hands. The light abruptly disappeared.

"What was that?" she said, her eyes wide at the still floating hands.

Takeru lowered his hands, still grinning. "I told you. That's my power."

"But - but you said you lost your power."

Takeru's face changed into a thoughtful expression, seeming pensive. "I think I am the only one who still has my power. They didn't even try to find their powers. Not at all. It seems that they are afraid." Hikari just stared at him with incredulity. Takeru walked between the symbols and stopped in front of the Hope symbol. "I wonder why they are afraid. I think having a power is neat. Don't you think?"

Hikari rubbed on her arms, feeling the warm touch through her skin. "Do you think that I would have a power?" Takeru seemed silent. He stared at her with such sharp azure eyes that she felt a strange experience from him. His power was Life. Sanimon called him the Savior. "Savior . . . That's what Sanimon called you."

Now Takeru seemed uneasy, like the other kids earlier. "The name reminds me of something. It's too vague to remember. I couldn't remember anything, but I do remember that I had someone who helped me find my power."

"Who?"

Takeru smiled. "An angel."

Hikari smiled with him. "Patamon helped you?"

To her surprise, he shook his head. "Not Angemon. My angel. I don't know who he was, but Onii-chan told me that he looked a lot like Angemon."

"Maybe he is really you, your other side. The Savior."

Takeru nodded, his eyes deep in thought. "Maybe. All I could remember about him was feathers. Just white feathers." Takeru blinked back in the present and grinned at her. "To answer your question, I do think that you would have a power. But what? And why isn't your crest symbol on this circle?"

Hikari knelt down, her fingers touching the Hope crest. The same feeling she received from Takeru's power burst in her body, making her dizzy, and then it was gone. She just said nothing, wondering. Would she ever find her power? Would it be different? "Come on, Kari. We need to sleep." Hikari felt the hand of Takeru sliding in her hand and helped her to stand. Hikari let Takeru lead her out of the room.

_Worrying about her . . ._

Hikari stopped in her tracks. "You say something?"

Takeru turned to her. "What? I didn't say anything."

_But she never has . . ._

Hikari glanced around, bewildered. "I heard a voice again."

Takeru gazed around, also, but the look perplexity on his face told her that he didn't hear anything. "What voices? How could you hear voices?" Then she saw recognition appearing on his face. "I remember anything. Onii-chan told me that when he was in the mansion, he could hear voices, although we didn't hear anything. Maybe the ghosts didn't leave." _Too young . . . Kari too young . . . _

Hikari tried to listen to the voice. It seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on whom. It was like that the voice came from her mind, not outside in her ear range.

_What if she . . . I don't know what . . . Not yet . . . _

"Come on, _dachi." Takeru said. The kids entered the room where the other slept. _

None of them ever noticed a flash of gold passing through the trees.

***

Metalseadramon suddenly raised his head from the white beach where he was resting during the night. His golden eyes narrowed as he heard soft rustlings from the trees. He slowly coiled his body and tail around him, waiting to strike for unfortunate, unaware Digimon. Then he heard the voice.

"Greetings, Lord."

Metalseadramon made a dark smirk among his metal lips. His eyes hooded, and his head lowered to meet the golden eyes of a dark-clothed Digimon who stepped out from the forest. The Digimon bowed deeply to him, and pulled back the hood to reveal a pale face with silver hair.

"Ah, welcome, Sanimon," Metalseadramon whispered, always hating to hear any loud noises to disturb his peaceful night. "Have you captured the Digidestined?"

Sanimon nodded with reverence. "Yes, my Lord. They are the Temple as we speak. They are so foolish to see through my plan." She smiled down at her already healed arm. "I await your command to destroy them."

Metalseadramon made a booming, evil laugh that echoed among the water behind them. "No, Sanimon. You are commanded to hold them as captives. I will come and destroy them on my own. But there is one among them I cannot destroy."

Sanimon arched a thin eyebrow of silver. "Surely, my lord jests. You can destroy them at once with one blow."

Metalseadramon snarled at her, making her cringe in fear. His eyes of golden burned at her with rage. Sanimon stood silent, shaking. "You don't question my power, understand?" The Digimon quickly nodded. He made a snort. "I can destroy them, but not when she is with them. She is preventing me from destroying her companions. You must destroy the Unnamed One."

Sanimon deeply bowed, then spoke softly, "She is weak, Lord. There is no mention of her in any of the legends. She does not have the power at all."

"Nevertheless, destroy her while she is weak She is more powerful than the Digidestined, even more than the Savior. I will not take the risk, Sanimon."

Sanimon again bowed. "As you command, Lord." She putted the hood over her head, hiding her face and turned to enter the forest.

Metalseadramon rested his head on his coiled body and sneered darkly.

***

"I was thinking about what Piximon said to us," Taichi mused at breakfast. The kids were sitting in a circle around a small fire set in a hole. Hikari noticed for a moment that the kids were sitting in the exact order of the circle in the other room. Taichi had Sora sitting on his left side as Kimika sat by his other. Yamato sat by her other side, and Koushiro sat by him. Jyou sat by his other side as Mimi sat in between Jyou and Sora. Takeru was sitting almost in the center, in front of his brother. Hikari sat near her brother, a little behind him, as if she wasn't involved in this circle for some reason.

"Yeah?" Yamato said, eying Taichi. "What do you think about?"

Taichi took a large bite from an apple-like fruit and miraculously spoke through his full mouth with clearness. "Piximon replied that we need to find something to make us strong enough to defeat the Dark Masters."

"What do you think he was meaning by that?" asked Takeru. His azure eyes were bright from the flames.

"Piximon, you said?" All looked up at the voice of Sanimon with a bowl full of fruits in her arms. Her robes swayed in motion as she walked up to Taichi. Her golden eyes met his tan eyes. "You mentioned about Piximon?"

Taichi seemed hesitant, but replied to her about what had Piximon said to the Digidestined earlier. When he finished, Sanimon was nodding, putting away the bowl of fruits. There was the same smirk on her lips, and Hikari suddenly felt uneasy. She narrowed her tan eyes on her, distrustful.

"I heard of Piximon mentioning that," Sanimon said, gazing at the kids. "I think that Piximon was talking about your powers." Hikari noticed that all the kids seemed uneasy again. Takeru was staring at the flames, his face wistful. Sanimon continued, "I think if you stand on your crest symbols in the Circle, you would get your powers stronger."

"You must be kidding," Kimika murmured. All gazed at her. She was looking pale. "I did touch my symbol, and I disappeared into it."

"You are forgetting that Banshemon is not here. She probably controlled the circle so she would capture you. I promise it will be safe. No one will harm you." Sanimon turned to head for the door. "This way, Digidestined."

All the kids were very reluctant, but Taichi stood up, his face tense. The others followed his suit, trusting him as the leader. They followed the Digimon to the door between the stairs. Sanimon swept her hand toward the circle. "Go ahead. Stand on your symbol. Your Digimon must stand with you in order to be even stronger along with you."

Yamato, Kimika, and Koushiro seemed halting to move closer to the circle, but Taichi, Sora, Jyou, and Mimi, who never seen it before, went to the circle in curiosity. They stood on their symbols, their Digimon standing close enough to have their feet on the symbols. Finally, the rest stood on the symbols. Sanimon was standing far from them, her golden eyes on them. Then she noticed something. Takeru was not on his symbol.

"Well, Savior, are you going to stand on your symbol?" Sanimon calmly asked.

Standing by Hikari's side, Takeru was shaking his head, his eyes unusually dark. "I don't want to."

Hikari heard Yamato saying, "Come on, TK. It will be all right." Takeru was still shaking his head.

Hikari then saw the dark smirk on Sanimon. She was saying, "No matter." She then snapped her fingers. Suddenly, rays of light shone from the symbols, each shining with its own color to match the crests' colors. The rays solidified until they became into some kind of containers. And the kids and Digimon were trapped inside.

"What the - ?" Jyou yelled, gazing upward at the pale blue container.

"You liar!" Yamato hollered through his dark blue container, punching his fists against the solid light, his grey-blue eyes glaring at the Digimon.

"Why?" Mimi whispered, her face tinted green from the light container.

"I am sorry, Digidestined, but Lord Metalseadramon commanded me to capture you for him," Sanimon said, then turned to the youngest kids. "Now this time, you will be not in his way to destroy them."

"Kari! TK! Get away from here!" Taichi shouted from his orange container.

Hikari and Takeru slowly sidestepped away, hesitant to leave their brothers and friends. Then they heard a crashing sound from behind them. They whirled around in alarm. They saw several Digimon that looked like savage lizards, standing on their hind legs, but hunched so low that their thick arms were dragging on the floor. The yellow fangs were dripping with saliva, their red eyes glowing with an eerie light.

Sanimon calmly motioned to the youngsters. "Barbarimon, capture them. I don't care what would you do to the Savior, but bring the girl here and alive."

"RUN!" Taichi and Yamato seemed to bellow in unison.

The Barbarimon tensed their hind legs and leaped up in the air, preparing to attack them.

"Lightning Claw!" Gatomon hissed and clawed one of the lizards in the face.

"Bubble Bomb!" Patamon shrieked out a ball of solid air at a few Barbarimon, causing them to fall backward from the sudden force.

"Come on, Kari!" Takeru yelled, ducking under a Barbarimon before it was blew away by another Bubble Bomb.

"But-" Hikari took a terrified look at her brother. Takeru suddenly grabbed on her hand and pulled her out of the way. Together, they dashed out the room with their Digimon following behind, occasionally stopping to battle the lizards, giving the kids time to escape.

Sanimon was heard as they ran outside, "Get the girl! She must be destroyed at once!"

***

One of the Barbarimon lowered its head and sniffed at the ground, its eyes narrowed. Its fellows darted their heads around, above the thick bushes. Their pointed ears perked at any sound, but there was only the sounds of a breeze whistling and the occasional growl of one of the lizards.

A Barbarimon snapped its head up, seeing something white flashing among the low branches. It waited, not making any sound, staring carefully. The Barbarimon leader raised its head and snarled the lizards. All followed after it, their leather bodies disappearing in the bushes.

Gatomon exhaled in relief as she watched the lizards patrolling away. She waited for a minute to make sure no one was hiding, and dug her claws in the trunk beside her. She climbed higher, her purple-white striped tail swaying lazily. She arrived at the thick branch where the kids sat. She jumped off to land beside Patamon. Hikari was holding the trunk with her arms, tears streaming out her eyes as Takeru tried to soothe her.

"It's all my fault," Hikari was murmuring to herself.

"No, its not," Takeru soothed.

"Then why does Sanimon want to destroy me?" Hikari gazed over her shoulder, silver streaks on her freckled face.

Takeru smiled, saying softly. "I remember that Myotismon tried to destroy us because he feared us. We were too powerful to be destroyed. I know that Sanimon cannot destroy you, because she fears you."

Hikari gazed at him oddly. "How come?"

"Perhaps it's because of your power. You do have a power."

Hikari wiped her face and asked, "Do you really think that I do have a power?"

Takeru grinned, his azure eyes brighter than the sky above. "I do know so. Have faith." Takeru gave her a brief embrace and added, "Now, we must go back and save our friends."

"The sooner, the better," chirped in Patamon, his wings fluttering lightly. Gatomon nodded in agreement, grinning to reveal her small white fangs.

Hikari also smiled, regaining her faith in her friends and herself.

Gatomon climbed downward, her sapphire eyes scanning the area cautiously and nodded at the waiting kids. They arrived to the ground and hid themselves under the thick bushes, creeping through for the mansion. Patamon was crawling in front, silently as the kids were in between, staying close and together. Gatomon was patrolling as the back guard, her ears perking for any betraying sound. They kept on crawling in silence, fearing that one of the Barbarimon would attack them in an ambush. Hikari hoped that they would find and rescue their friends.

_NO!_

Sudden bursts of pain exploded in her chest, causing her to gasp and fall to the ground. Brief yells escaped her mouth as she winced in pain, clutching her chest. Gatomon was heard screeched in agonized surprise, curling in a trembling ball from behind. A hand slapped over Hikari's mouth, and Takeru tried to soothe her as she shuddered. Patamon alarmingly scanned around, hoping that one of the Barbarimon would not hear the yells. Hikari kept on whimpering behind his hand, tears of pain streaming down her face as Gatomon struggled to hold down the pain she shared from the spiritual link with Hikari. The pain eventually weakened into a dull throb that remained in her chest. Takeru let go of her, and Hikari laid still, panting softly.

Takeru rubbed on her back gently, his head lowered to meet her eyes. "Kari? Are you all right? What happened?"

Hikari took another weak gasp and replied. "The pain . . . I heard the voice again . . ."

"Do you know who is this voice?" Takeru gently asked. 

_Please . . ._

"It's Tai . . ." Hikari said, stunned. The voice sounded like he was in deep pain.

Patamon was gazing at Takeru with a puzzled expression. "How can she feel pain from Tai?"

Gatomon was heard gulping in deep breaths, crawling to her companion, her sapphire eyes full with agony. "I believe . . . that Kari is linked to Tai . . . like I am linked to her."

"It could be possible. They are siblings," Takeru said, unusually sagacious. Then his face scowled lightly in thought. "But who could hurt Tai?"

_Let her be, Sanimon . . ._

"Sanimon," Hikari whispered, clenching her teeth. Her anger began to seethe, angry that she could not protect her brother from that lying Digimon. "She is hurting him." She weakly sat up and glanced at the boy with a bitter scowl on her freckled face. "We must go back now!"

Takeru silently nodded and gestured to Patamon to continue his guard. The small group crawled through the thick branches, occasionally stopping when they heard a faint rustling or a crack of a twig. They continued until they stopped at several feet away from the mansion. It was empty. There were no Barbarimon keeping patrol. The group arrived to one of the windows. The Digimon stayed back, watching for any ambush. Hikari hid, her back against the wall as Takeru stood, risking himself to peek over the window slit. Takeru took a long look, then sat down beside Hikari.

"There is no one inside," Takeru whispered to Hikari. 

Hikari stared back with perplexity. Where would Sanimon hide their friends? "What can we do now?"

Takeru looked around carefully and said, "Follow me." He then stood and climbed over the window. Hikari followed after him, and both sat together in the darkness, waiting for their eyes to adapt. Their Digimon came inside from the outside, also sitting quietly. The room that contained the Circle of Crests was empty, no containers of colored light that trapped kids shone in the darkness. The group glided over the floor, as silent as they could, and arrived to the door. Takeru pressed his ear against the door and after a while, shook his head to the waiting friends. He turned the knob a little, and waited again. No sound came out from outside of the door, acknowledging them that there was an ambush. The kids entered the lobby, which was empty.

"Where can we go now?" mused Patamon from his usual side by Takeru.

_Please . . . Don't hurt her . . . _

Hikari again heard her brother's voice, and it sounded like it was coming from upstairs. She pointed upward the second floor, saying, "I believe we must go up there."

The group climbed, wincing at the groaning squeaks over the rotting wooden steps. They arrived at the second floor, and Hikari was speechless at the bizarre sights of the nine paintings. She saw the remarkable descriptions of the Digidestined on the paintings, each in his or her own characteristic pose. And she noticed something different. Between the paintings of Takeru and Taichi, she saw a painting that was waterlogged. There was a face, but it was too blurred to tell the details. The frame was muted pinkish.

"What are these, TK?" Hikari asked him, who was at her side.

Takeru was staring at his golden-framed painting, his azure eyes oddly dull and cloudy. He literally jumped at her voice and turned to her, blinking his eyes. He shrugged at her question, saying, "I don't know why. We just found them when we first arrived. We didn't know what they are."

Hikari wondered, but then Gatomon's sudden gasp jolted her from her thoughts. She gazed down to her Digimon, only to find her staring up to the pink-framed painting. Gatomon was pointing upward, her eyes wide. Hikari looked up and staggered backward, astounded. In the place of the blurred face, the freckled face of Hikari was painted, clearly and brightly. Like Takeru in the painting, Hikari had her eyes gazing upward, an outline of soft pink framing her. There was a light smile on her lips, just like the posed Takeru.

Then Hikari saw something spooky. The posed Hikari began to stir. The tan eyes shifted lower until she met the frightened gaze of the real Hikari. Takeru quickly moved in front of her, also frightened, his own eyes wide. The painted Hikari seemed unmoving by their reactions. She moved slightly, as if she was walking backward, yet still in place. She shrunk until her whole body was seen in the painting. She raised her arm and pointed to the group, then moved to point behind her. She repeated this motive a few times before she gazed at Hikari with hopeful patience.

Hikari was puzzling over this, then finally realized. "TK!" she exclaimed with excitement, grabbing on his arm. "She is trying to show us that there is a secret entrance behind the painting." The posed Hikari was nodding, now grinning delighted. 

Takeru gazed at her, suspicious at the painting. "What if it is a trick?"

The posed Hikari shook her head and again pointed behind her, still patient. Hikari said, "I don't think she would lie. If she does, then I would lie to myself." She went to the painting and placed her hands on the frame. She pushed with all her strength, straining as much as she could. Soon, Takeru and the Digimon added their strength to hers, heaving hard and laborious. The painting began to move. Hikari felt that the posed Hikari was helping them, too, and shifted her painting away.

Hikari looked up to see a small opening in the wall, full with dimness. It was just small enough for them to squeeze through. She glanced at the painting and saw Hikari winking back, a confident smile on her lips. Hikari smiled back and climbed into the opening. The rest followed behind. They heard the painting shifting to close over the opening, darkening the area. Oddly enough, the tunnel was not quite dark, just enough to shine inside, the faintest light possible.

The group quietly walked in the tunnel, frightened to see the face of Sanimon waiting for them, the dark smirk on her face. The Digimon walked in front, keeping caution. There was no sound at all, just the low breathing of the group and the soft footsteps crunching over pebbles. 

Suddenly, a series of various growls and snarls was heard from behind. Alarmed, they whirled around and saw several Barbarimon prowling toward them, fangs flashing. How could they appear behind the group if no one was following them? But there was no time to ponder this over. Barbarimon burst in attack, their claws outreaching.

"Lightning Claw!" Gatomon hissed, jumping in position, blue slashes emitting from her black talons and striking a Barbarimon, who hollered in rage. Patamon also entered the battle, shrieking out his Bubble Bomb.

"Run!" Takeru yelled before he pushed Hikari toward the tunnel. Hikari hesitated, but seeing the sharp gaze in his azure eyes, she turned and ran as fast as she could. Takeru ran behind her, shouting out orders to his Digimon. Hikari panted as she turned around a corner, but her swiftness caused her to tumble over her feet. She picked herself up and gazed up in alarm at a growl in front of her. Her tan eyes met the savage red eyes of a Barbarimon. It was hiding in the darkness, but she could see the body, faint and huge. Hikari froze, hesitating as the Barbarimon lunged for her.

_"Being of Life!"_

A sudden beam of pure white light with golden spirals around it soared past her and struck the Barbarimon right in midair. The Barbarimon blared in deep pain as it twitched wildly in the light. It lasted for a brief time. The light grew too bright that Hikari shielded her eyes with her arms, then the light disappeared. Hikari peeked from her shield and gaped. She saw a few white feathers drifting silently to the ground, to the very place where the Barbarimon had disappeared.

"Kari!" Takeru ran to her side and helped her to stand up. "Are you all right?"

Hikari slowly nodded, staring at the white feathers in a neat pile. "TK . . . You did this?"

She turned to see a pained expression on Takeru's face as he glanced to the feathers. He quickly looked away and whispered, "Yes. That's my power." Hikari silently stared at him, unbelievable. The Digimon arrived to their partners' sides, Patamon wincing at the sight of the feathers, Gatomon cocking her head in curiosity. Takeru cleared his throat. "Come on. Let's find our friends."

The group kept walking through the tunnel for a while until they were blocked by a fork. The group was wondering which path to take when they heard faint voices from the left tunnel. Takeru and Hikari looked over to each other and ran down the tunnel, the Digimon following. They eventually stopped at a huge wooden door at the dead end. There was a steel latch on it, thick and looked like it would not unlock. 

Takeru placed his ear on the door and waited. Hikari did the same, straining to hear what or who was inside. She heard familiar voices, whispering to each other as if they were talking. One was familiar.

"Matt?" Takeru called out.

The voices abruptly stopped, then Hikari heard the voice of Yamato calling back, "TK?! You came back!"

"Yeah, and we are all here!" Hikari spoke.

"You shouldn't be here!" Sora's voice then spoke in.

"It doesn't matter now. How can we open this door?"

Koushiro replied, "Sanimon must have the key nearby somewhere!"

"TK, up there!" Hikari spoke, already looking up. She pointed at a small key hanging from a nail on the wall. Then she grew suspicious. Why could Sanimon choose to leave the key here? She would have kept it on her body. 

Takeru silently gestured to the key, and Patamon flew upward, taking the key. He dropped it in Takeru's hands, and he turned the key in the opening. The door opened, and Takeru ran inside. Hikari saw that the kids and their Digimon were in cages, trapped. Takeru was unlocking the cage to his brother, and, finished it, headed for Sora's cage. Hikari noticed that there was one missing.

"Where is Tai?" Hikari spoke, worried.

The kids glanced to each other, but couldn't answer. Kimika finally answered, "Tai was taken by Sanimon to somewhere. We don't know where."

_No, please!_

Taichi's voice pierced through her mind, making her stiffening in alarm. Sanimon was going to hurt him! She must stop her! "Taichi!" Hikari yelled as she ran back the tunnel, ignoring the calls of the kids and her Digimon. She dashed up the tunnel and stopped at the fork.

_Leave her alone, Sanimon!_

The voice was coming from the right tunnel. Hikari again speeded down the tunnel, still hearing the cries of her brother, but no longer sensing his pain. She arrived at another wooden door, but it had no latch to be locked. She pushed up the bar that was set in the steel buckles. She ran inside and paused in her tracks, gaping at the sight.

She saw her brother, floating in the air, surrounding in an aura of blood-red. His face was covered with shock and pain, his tan eyes on a figure in the room. Hikari followed his gaze to the figure and scowled deeply. Sanimon was smirking at her with calm cunningness.

"Greetings, the Unnamed One," Sanimon was saying, almost respectfully. "Or shall I say the Saint?"

Hikari was unmoving at the name, staring angrily at her. "Let go of my brother or else!"

Sanimon chuckled. "I am afraid I cannot do what you command. I obey only Lord Metalseadramon."

"Kari!" Taichi yelled, "Get away! You will be destroyed!"

"Not until you are free!" Hikari yelled back, her eyes still on the Digimon.

"Ah, sibling love. Too bad this is not your power, Saint," Sanimon said, musing in her golden eyes.

Hikari took an anxious gaze at her brother and said, "Why do you call me the Saint, and what is my power?"

Sanimon appeared amused. "You don't know the legend?" She made another chuckle and continued, "Do you know that you are the most powerful Digidestined because you have an odd power that is kind of ironic? There is a small legend that is only known by the Guardians of the Digital World. It is well-hidden, fearing that it would cause hysteria among the Digimon."

She recited, "_'The one who add to the eight shall have the power to destroy or heal the Digital World. Beware of her, for she is the most powerful of all. Beware of her power, for she shall be the one who bear the hope or peril to all.'"_

"What?" Taichi spoke from above, his voice quavering. "What is her power?"

Sanimon gazed upward to the boy with annoyance. "Think, Master! There are ten powers to Nature that are connected to the Digital World. Your power is Fire, right? The other powers are Water, Air, Earth, Spirit, Light, Ice, and Lightning. Ice belongs to one Digidestined that will come later. Life is one of the two powers that are connected with all the powers you have. There is one left that is also part of the two powers, but very opposite. That's why the legend is ambiguous, even to us Guardians. Think."

Taichi appeared contemplating abut it, and then Hikari saw great paleness and disbelief passing on his face. His tan eyes widened as he gazed down to her. Then she heard a word that shuddered through her body. "Death . . ."

Hikari nearly collapsed to the ground. Death? Her power was Death? How? How would it be possible? She wasn't the one who would destroy anybody. She would refuse to kill anybody if she has to. This must be wrong. Her power can't be Death. It was impossible!

She looked over to Sanimon, who made a sigh. She wasn't sure if it was sad or amused. Sanimon was saying, "That's why we were unsure to call you the Saint of Light or the Slayer of Darkness."

Hikari then scowled and stood up straighter. "Well, if my power is Death, you know that you must let my brother go or you will suffer the most painful, horrible death ever!"

Sanimon wasn't moved by that, just standing there, the dark smirk still there on her lips. Her voice seemed more cunning. "You want me to let your brother go?"

"YES!"

"No!" Taichi yelled.

"My pleasure!" Sanimon raised her hand, pointing it toward the shaking Taichi. "Scarlet Spear!" A glowing spear of red emitted from her hand. Hikari made a terrified scream as the spear smoothly stabbed through Taichi's stomach. Taichi's eyes widened in pain as he flinched forward once at the force. He didn't scream out at all, just gasping for breath. The spear disappeared, but there was no wound left behind. It must have shattered Taichi's life force. The red aura lowered him to the ground, and Hikari ran to his side, crying.

"Tai! I'm so sorry!" Hikari embraced Taichi, holding him in her arms. Taichi didn't answer, just grinning very weakly at her, and then his head lolled to a side, his eyes closed gently.

Hikari held her brother closer, tears falling one by one. The tears fell on her tag, wet drops splashing on the glass screen. Then the crest glowed with a soft pink light. The light crept across her and surrounded her. Her aura was all white with pink rays radiating from her body.

"What?! It can't be!" Sanimon screeched in disbelief. "Not now! Scarlet Spear!"

Hikari turned her head sharply, glaring at the oncoming spear, and the aura brightened. The spear came in contact with the aura and disappeared with suddenness. Sanimon gasped in incredulity, her golden eyes widening. Hikari had an expression of silent, impassive visage, her tan eyes slightly narrowed. She stood up, glaring at the Digimon. "You killed my brother." Her voice was hard with no emotions. 

She could hear the running footsteps behind her, but refused to pay any attention to her friends. She heard the gasps of her name and yells of Taichi's name. She still glared at Sanimon.

Sanimon managed to grin with cunningness, although Hikari could see a glimmer of fear among the grin. "Come on, Saint. You don't have the guts to destroy me. Your power of Death is just wrong."

Hikari quietly said, "You killed my brother. Now you will suffer." She raised her opened hands toward the Digimon, who just summoned on her power to shield herself from the oncoming attack. 

_"Rebirth of Death!"_

A huge glowing cross appeared in front of her hands, colored pure pink with white lining. The cross soared in the air, arrived to its target. Sanimon was surrounded, screaming in pain as the rays of white stabbed in his body as the pink aura radiated brighter, blinding her. Sanimon was seen fading into particles of red, then vanished in mid air.

Hikari turned to her brother and knelt by him. Her power may be Death, but there was another side to it. She could give her life up to restore her brother. She knew her brother would never forgive her for that, but it was necessary. She took the limp hands in her hands and summoned her power to flow from her body to his. The aura drifted to his hands, arms, and now body. She felt her life drifting away from her body, weakening her, but she just pushed on her power.

Taichi opened his eyes, slowly restoring his life. Through the aura, he could hear his sister's thoughts, and he tried to snatch his hands from hers, but she held on, as if her grip was like stone. "No . . . no . . . Don't do it, Kari!"

_I must. We need you, oniisan._

"We need you, too! Don't do it, oneesan!" He felt stronger by the minute as Hikari began to slacken, but her hands still held on. The aura abruptly vanished, and Hikari collapsed in his arms as Taichi sat up quickly. "NO!" He shook her, but she didn't respond, her eyes closed, her head resting on his chest. Taichi felt hot tears running down his face, caressing his sister. He ignored the soft voices of the friends behind, his mind on his sister. "Kari . . ."

Then he heard a hum from the body he held. "Tai . . ." Taichi looked down to Hikari in shocked surprise. Hikari was opening her eyes weakly, gazing up to him. "Why are you crying? I'm here, right?"

Taichi didn't say nothing, just embracing her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Then Taichi finally spoke, his voice breaking, "Yeah, you are here. And I'm glad for that."

Never the End!


End file.
